English has a pretty rare vowel (1 Viewer)

[Ahsoka]

And it’s the vowel R

Those of you who learned that a vowel in English means A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y may be a bit confused. Vowel is a pretty vague word. But for the sake of this, there are certain requirements for a sound to be a vowel sound. They are: the vowel is required to be voiced (ex. no shh or other voiceless sounds), needs to be the peak of a syllable (imagine singing “babyyy”, the vowel e becomes very clear), and it can’t have an obstructed vocal tract (ex. no closed lips, no tongue pressing the roof of your mouth, ect). This isn’t the only way a vowel can be defined, and it gets more complicated, but for the sake of this thread, it should be sufficient.

Now, the vowel R. How do you get R as a vowel? R can take on many forms. You can get trilled Rs (think Spanish or Russian). You can get throat Rs (think French and German). You can get untrilled R. Or even non Rhotic (ex, some British Rs). And many other forms. R as a vowel appears when you blend an R sound with a preceding vowel sound. Like in Standard American English when you say “bird”. The vowel goes from being just an I sound, to being an I sound blended together with the R.

It’s important to differentiate the blended R (called a r-coated vowel) from being the vowel I followed by an R. And there is still some debate about this. Not to mention, there exist English dialects where it would be an I followed by an R (Scottish English is one example). But the difference is that in one, the position of the tongue has already changed during the vowel, rather than waiting for the end to move the tongue in preparation for the R. This changes the overall sound of the vowel itself from 2 separate sounds to one blended sound, making it considered a R coated vowel.

How common is this sound? Not very. Most of the time, when it appears, it appears in very localized cases. For example, localized dialects of Mandarin Chinese, very rarely in certain German dialects, and in certain languages of indigenous Americans. There are many reasons thought to be a reason why it’s so rare, ranging from Rs being inherently unstable, to issues with clarity when the R blends with the vowel. Pretty interesting though, makes me want to time travel 200 years from now to check on how this vowel R is doing

 

[Ahsoka]

Language tag:
@athenarose @Lexie @Nyaz @Dreamer_of_Songs @Nina @velvet @ChuuAntics @MyLovelyLove @alo @Chiara @eclipsoul @sick

 

[Somnia]

I am happy that this is talked about lol. To me the English R is pretty hard at times especially with words like "mirror" existing.

 

[Chohee_nyang]

I am happy that this is talked about lol. To me the English R is pretty hard at times especially with words like "mirror" existing.

Yes to me also R is hard to pronounce, I say L Every time...

 

[Somnia]

Yes to me also R is hard to pronounce, I say L Every time...

I actually have the same issue switching my R with L and sometimes I just say a hard R

 

[Harmony_Starz]

I am happy that this is talked about lol. To me the English R is pretty hard at times especially with words like "mirror" existing.

I never thought R was smth hard to deal with but I learnt English really young so even I had some struggle, it would have been corrected quickly

 

[Somnia]

I never thought R was smth hard to deal with but I learnt English really young so even I had some struggle, it would have been corrected quickly

I picked it up when a teenager by watching tv and listening to music. I also had an American gf around the same time so that too helped a bit to get better. She always wanted to learn my native language better and wanted us to use it, but I never gave in and sticked with English when speaking with her irl.

 

[RandAlThor]

I always learned a e i o u and sometimes Y and w. but this is fun.

 

[Chohee_nyang]

I actually have the same issue switching my R with L and sometimes I just say a hard R

It's actually so hard oppa...
I just say mileo to the mirror....

 

[RandAlThor]

lol i got distracted and this one actually fits kinda

 

[Ahsoka]

lol i got distracted and this one actually fits kinda

It is actually very related, but the L becomes a vowel/semivowel instead of R. Pretty interesting, and also common in certain dialects and European languages It’s actually why the letter ł in Polish is read as w, it became a vowel like w over time. But it used to be a dark L (full has a dark L, for example).

 

[Selfmate]

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