May I interject a couple of statements/questions?

-----Original Message-----
From: Haukur Thorgeirsson
To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 9/18/2003 4:54 PM
Subject: Re: [norse_course] pronouncing "r" ?

> 1. Are all R's rolled? For example, are both R's in "ormr" rolled? Or

both in "dvergr"?

> Sometimes I find myself voicing the first R in these cases as you

would an English R, and rolling only the second R.

>
> ( -r represents the R that is being rolled)
>
> orm-r
> dverg-r
> varg-r
>
> What is the correct form?

In the modern language the first r's in the words above are certainly
rolled.
I'd worry more about the second r - it may tend to become a mere flap.

I'm not sure what you mean by voice. In the modern language the first
r's are
definitely voiced whereas the ending-r may tend to become unvoiced (it's
"half-voiced").
In a word like 'virki' (works) or 'skerpa' (sharpen) the first r is
fully unvoiced
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Is not an unvoiced r merely a flapping of the tongue against the
roof of the mouth by means of the flow of air alone in the absence
of any vibrations emanating from the throat? If this is the case,
then the vowels i (within 'virki') and the e (within 'skerpa') must
be VERY quite (even nearly inaudible). You Icelanders seem to
tend to speak towards the front of the mouth (something like a Dutch speaker) - relative to a German or even an U.S. American which would
lend itself towards an unvoiced r sound. Then again, I really don't
know.
I've noticed what may fit the description of a half-voiced r in
instances where one of us Yanks attempts to mimic an Indian accent. One
starts with a nice voiced r that is allowed to suddenly cut out and
leaves the tongue flapping owing to its own momentum. Is this, perhaps,
what you mean?

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> 2. Ending R's - do they have tone, or simple an unvoiced flap of the

tongue?

Tone? I'm not sure I follow.
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I do believe that the question is simply a repeat of the firts voiced/
unvoiced question - in which case - one can certainly go with
Haukur's first response.
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- - -

Exactly how r was pronounced in various positions in the Old Norse
dialects
is anyone's guess. We know that the r of the grammatical endings
developed
out of another sound so I suppose it's conceivable that it was
pronounced
as a somewhat different allophone.
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This seems excessively mild for the Haukur I've come to know and love.

Raymond
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Kveðja,
Haukur