Re: [tied] Re: Franco-Provençal

--- On Thu, 2/19/09, Andrew Jarrette <anjarrette@...> wrote:

> From: Andrew Jarrette <anjarrette@...>
> Subject: [tied] Re: Franco-Provençal
> To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Thursday, February 19, 2009, 7:25 PM
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Rick McCallister
> <gabaroo6958@...> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --- On Thu, 2/19/09, Brian M. Scott
> <BMScott@...> wrote:
> >
> > > From: Brian M. Scott <BMScott@...>
> > > Subject: Re[2]: [tied] Re: Franco-Provençal
> > > To: "Rick McCallister"
> <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
> > > Date: Thursday, February 19, 2009, 5:34 PM
> > > At 5:15:36 PM on Thursday, February 19, 2009,
> Rick
> > > McCallister wrote:
> > >
> > > [...]
> > >
> > > > I associate a true retroflex /R/ more with
> Canadian
> > > and
> > > > Great Lakes English
> > >
> > > On what basis? I'd be skeptical of a claim
> that you
> > > could
> > > readily distinguish them by ear.
> > >
> > > Brian
> >
> > I don't know about being able to detect
> "bunch" vs. "retro" but
> there is a difference between Canadian and Standard
> American /R/.
> Canadian /R/ tends to sound a bit farther back in the mouth
> and sounds
> more sustained.
> >
>
> As a Canadian (I lost my original Trinidadian accent
> completely in
> early childhood), I will say that I have examined my own
> /r/'s and
> found that although I do turn the tip of the tongue upward
> like a
> retroflex /r/ (but not that far back), I believe I also
> arch the mid
> or rear part of the tongue, like a bunched /r/. It's
> hard to say
> though, the only thing I'm certain of is that I curl
> the tip upward.
>
> I can't quite tell the difference between Canadian and
> Standard
> American /r/, but I've noticed over my life that
> individuals in either
> country often have their own variation of these two
> varieties of /r/,
> or at least sound like they do. An example is Sarah Palin,
> whose
> /r/'s sound very pronounced, lengthened, and, to me,
> apparently
> retroflex (I may be wrong).
>
> Andrew

Whereas to me, she sounds like a Canadian, as do a lot of people from the Great Lakes region