LL-L "Phonology" 2003.06.03 (07) [E]

[R. F. Hahn]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 03.JUN.2003 (07) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: "Peter J. Wright" <peterjwright at earthlink.net>
Subject: Reply to "Phonology"

Uilleam Stiubhart asked:

"Does anyone know of the type (or types) of 'r' sound in Old English? Is
it
voiced uvular fricative, a tap, or a trill? I've personally always
figured it to be the former, simply because that's what modern High
German
has, but I gather that German has a sort of spectrum of 'r'
pronunciations.
So can anyone clear this up for me?"

As far as I know (I have done much research on the subject), the uvular
"r"
came into being as a result of an innovation in 18th century French
spoken
on Ile de France.  The effect of changing the point of articulation for
this
letter was to increase the speaker's perceived prestige (a.k.a.,
"speaking
with a pretentious accent").  From there, it spread out radially to
various
parts of Western Europe, eventually becoming accepted as the standard
pronunciation for the letter "r" in German, Dutch (i.e., ABN -- Algemeen
Beschaafd Nederlands) in the Netherlands and Danish, and is viewed as a
prestigious distinguishing feature of the varieties of standard
Norwegian
spoken in Bergen and southern Norway.  In Sweden, it serves the purpose
of
distinguishing southern Swedish from northern Swedish culture, being
used in
the southern Swedish provinces of Skane, Halland, Blekinge and Smaland,
as
well as southern parts of Vastergotland.  However, in Danish and
Norwegian
the assumption of the sound is primarily a result of German influence,
and
hence secondarily French.  It is also used in some parts of Italy, and
is
similarly viewed as "pretentious" or "prestigious", depending on your
viewpoint.  The reason being that since French was viewed as *the*
language
of learning for many centuries in Europe, whatever features were able to
be
assimilated into a non-Frenchman's native language (German, Dutch,
Italian)
made him or her seem more educated, and therefore superior, to those
around
them who spoke with a trilled "r".  In those countries where the uvular
"r"
is considered a part of the standard language's phonology, a trilled "r"
is
considered indicative of a lack of sophistication by speakers of the
standard language.

In answer to your question, therefore, the sound used in Old English was
almost certainly a trilled "r", as currently used in the rest of Europe,
i.e., a tap for single "r's" and a trill for double "r's", since this
French
innovation took place many centuries afterwards.

An interesting socio-linguistic phenomenon.

Cheers,

Peter Wright
The Wright Translation
New York, NY

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject:  Phonology

Peter (above):

> An interesting socio-linguistic phenomenon.

Indeed, and rather comprehensively as well as comprehensibly presented,
if I may add.  Thanks for and congratulations on an informative and
examplary posting!

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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