Re: uvular R in modern Hebrew

--- Max Dashu <maxdashu@...> wrote:

> I've wondered about this too. Could it be from
> Ashkenazi settlers
> whose Yiddish had uvular R via old German? a lot of
> those
> beyond-the-(Russian-decreed) Pale Jews came east via
> Germany and
> spoke Yiddish.
>
> Max
>
> >Why does Hebrew gave uvular /R/
> >when most of its speakers have roots in Slavic and
> >Arabic countries where <r> is a tap or a trill? My
> >understanding is most of the very early speakers
> were
> >Poles, Ukrainians and Belorussians.
>
>

They usually spoke Yiddish as well but I've read and
been told that Yiddish in Slavic countries usually
adapted to the pronunciation of the local language and
you could tell whether someone was from Odessa, Warsaw
or Prague by their accent.