. These consonants are usually
. Speakers of some languages regard the
and the guttural to be alternative pronunciations of the same phoneme, despite the
. The pronuncation of a guttural rhotic is also frequent in the
. The consonant is also found other parts of the world, but in most other places it has little or no cultural association nor interchangeability with the more common alveolar , or the uncommon retroflex .
is perhaps the best known example of a language with a guttural rhotic, to the extent that this pronunciation is widely
d. While there are a wide range of realizations – , (both the fricative and the approximant), , , and will all be recognized as "r",–most of them will be considered dialectal. For example, is considered typical of a Parisian accent, while is sometimes found in southern France, as well as increasingly less in North America.
. In much of southern France the guttural R has replaced the traditional
It is not known when the guttural rhotic entered the French language, although it may have become commonplace in the mid or late eighteenth century.
as an alveolar trill.
Rural QuébécoisQuebec French , or less often Québécois French, is the predominant variety of the French language in Canada, in its formal and informal registers...
as well as Québécois from older generations generally use an alveolar trill, as was traditionally the pronunciation in Western Québec (including Montréal) and other parts of Canada, and as such this older pronunciation feature must have been retained after the French colonists in Canada were isolated from "Mother France."
French Canadian broadcasters as well as Quebec Province's urbanites, however, try to mimic the modern guttural rhotic pronunciation of Paris perhaps as the result of influence by modern French media from France.
Generally speaking, classical choral and operatic French pronunciation requires the use of an alveolar trill when singing, since an alveolar trill is easier to project than any guttural sound, be it a uvular trill or a uvular fricative.
Portuguese
Standard versions of PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
have two rhotic phonemes, which contrast only between vowels. In older Portuguese, these were the alveolar flap (which occurred at the end of syllables) and the alveolar trillThe alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar trills is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r. It is informally and commonly called the rolling R or...
(which occurred at syllable onset). However, in the 19th century the voiced uvular fricativeThe voiced uvular fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is R...
penetrated the upper classes in the region of Lisbon in Portugal, and by the late 20th century it had replaced the alveolar trill in most of the country's urban areas. In the rural regions, the trill is still dominant, but most of the country's population currently lives in or near the cities. The uvular trillThe uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a small capital R. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is R\. This consonant is one of several collectively called guttural R...
is also heard sometimes.
The SetúbalSetúbal is the main city in Setúbal Municipality in Portugal with a total area of 172.0 km² and a total population of 118,696 inhabitants in the municipality...
dialect uses the voiced uvular fricativeThe voiced uvular fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is R...
for all instances of "r" — word start, intervocalic, postconsonantal and syllable ending. This same pronunciation is attested in people with rhotacismRhotacism may refer to several phenomena related to the usage of the consonant r .*the excessive or idiosyncratic use of the r;...
and in non-native speakers of FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
origin.
In Africa, the classical alveolar trill is mostly still dominant, due to separate development from European Portuguese.
In Brazil, it has sometimes become a voiceless velar fricativeThe voiceless velar fricative, informally known as the hard ch, is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is x...
, voiceless uvular fricativeThe voiceless uvular fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is X...
or a voiceless glottal fricativeThe voiceless glottal transition, commonly called a "fricative", is a type of sound used in some spoken languages which often behaves like a consonant, but sometimes behaves more like a vowel, or is indeterminate in its behavior...
,, while [r] remains frequent in the three southernmost states and among older speakers in the city of São Paulo, before another consonant. Some dialects of Brazilian PortugueseBrazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by virtually all the almost 200 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay.Roughly speaking, the differences...
now use the guttural "r" rather than the flap at the end of syllables. The caipira dialectCaipira is a Brazilian Portuguese term used to designate inhabitants of rural, remote areas of some Brazilian states—It refers to the people of lesser schooling. It can be considered pejorative when used to describe others, but it can also be used as a self-identifier without negative connotations...
has the alveolar approximantThe alveolar approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents alveolar and postalveolar approximants is , a lowercase letter r rotated 180 degrees; the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r\.For ease of...
in the same position.
Word-final rhotics may be silent when the last syllable is stressed, in colloquial speech (especially in Brazil and some African countries).
Spanish
In Spanish, guttural or uvular realizations of are considered a speech defect. Generally the single flap , spelled r as in cara, undergoes no defective pronunciations, but the alveolar trill in rata or perro is one of the last sounds learned by children and uvularization is likely among individuals who can't achieve the alveolar articulation. This said, uvular or back variants for are quite spread in Puerto Rican Spanish and, to a lesser extent, in some nonstandard Cuban and Dominican dialects.
Breton
The Breton languageThe Breton language is a Celtic language spoken in Brittany , France.-History:Breton is a Brythonic language, descended from the Celtic British language brought from Great Britain to Armorica by migrating Britons during the Early Middle Ages. Like the other Brythonic languages, Welsh and Cornish,...
, spoken in BrittanyBrittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Brittany was previously a kingdom and then as a duchy it was a fief of the Kingdom of France. It was at one time called Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
(France), is a Celtic language rather than a Romance language, but is heavily influenced by French. It retains an alveolar trill in some dialects.
Continental West Germanic
Many Low Franconian and Low SaxonLow Saxon may refer to:*In political of territorial respect:**Of or relating to Lower Saxony**Of or relating to Saxe-Lauenburg**Of or relating to Lower Saxon Circle*In linguistic respect:**Any West Low German speech variety...
varieties adopted a uvular rhotic. While many of the Upper GermanUpper German is a family of High German dialects spoken primarily in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and northern Italy.- Family tree :Upper German can be generally classified as Alemannic or Austro-Bavarian...
varieties maintained an alveolar trillThe alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar trills is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r. It is informally and commonly called the rolling R or...
(IPA ), many Central GermanCentral German is a group of High German dialects spread from the Rhineland to Thuringia, south of Low German and Low Franconian and north of Upper German. In older books, Central German is sometimes called Middle German.Central German divides into two subgroups, West Central German and East...
varieties also adopted a uvular rhotic. The development of a uvular rhotic in these regions is not entirely understood, but a common theory is that these languages adopted a uvular rhotic because of FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
influence, though the reason for uvular rhotic in modern European French is not itself well understood (see above).
The Frisian languages usually retain an alveolar rhotic.
Dutch and Afrikaans
In modern DutchDutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
, quite a few different rhotic sounds are used. In BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
, the usual rhotic is an alveolar trillThe alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar trills is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r. It is informally and commonly called the rolling R or...
, but the uvular rhotic does occur, mostly in the province of LimburgLimburg is the easternmost province of Flanders , and is located west of the Maas river. It borders on the Netherlands and the Belgian provinces of Liège, Flemish Brabant and Antwerp. Its capital is Hasselt...
, in the region around GhentGhent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
and in BrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium...
. In the NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
, the uvular rhotic is the dominant rhotic in the southern provinces of Noord-BrabantNorth Brabant is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west.- History :...
and LimburgLimburg is the southern-most of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by Belgium to the south and part of the west, Germany to the east, the Dutch province of North Brabant partly to the west, and the province of Gelderland to...
. In the rest of the country, the situation is more complicated. The uvular rhotic is common, but not dominant, in the western agglomeration RandstadImage:Randstad_with_scale.png|400px|thumb|right|Schematic map of the Randstadcircle 528 380 26 Schipholrect 426 356 498 436 Haarlemmermeerrect 399 166 479 245 Velsencircle 250 716 32 Delftcircle 220 642 60 The Hague...
, including cities like RotterdamRotterdam ; city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland, situated in the west of the Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the country, with a population of 584,046 as of January 2007...
, The HagueThe Hague is the third largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam, with a population of 485,818 and an area of approximately 100 km²...
and UtrechtUtrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern end of the Randstad, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands, with a population of 300,030 in 2007...
(the dialect of AmsterdamAmsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country...
usually has an alveolar rhotic though). The uvular rhotic is also used in some major cities outside of the Randstad area, such as ZwolleZwolle is a municipality and the capital city of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands, 120 kilometers northeast of Amsterdam. Zwolle has about 115,000 citizens.-History:...
, AlmeloAlmelo is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres in the town are Aadorp, Almelo, Mariaparochie and Bornerbroek....
and LeeuwardenLeeuwarden is the capital city of the Dutch province of Friesland. It is situated in the north of the country.-History:...
. Outside of these uvular rhotic core areas, the alveolar trillThe alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar trills is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r. It is informally and commonly called the rolling R or...
is common. People learning Dutch as a foreign language also tend to use the alveolar trill because it contrasts better with the voiceless velar fricativeThe voiceless velar fricative, informally known as the hard ch, is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is x...
sound in Dutch. The Afrikaans language of South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
also uses an alveolar trill for its rhotic, except in the non-urban rural regions around Cape TownCape Town is the second most populous city in South Africa, and the largest in land area, forming part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. It is the provincial capital of the Western Cape, as well as the legislative capital of South Africa, where the National Parliament and many...
where it is uvular (called a brei).
Standard German
Most varieties of Standard GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
are spoken with a uvular rhotic, even though the first standardized pronunciation dictionary by Theodor SiebsTheodor Siebs was a German linguist most remembered today as the author of Deutsche Bühnenaussprache published in 1898...
prescribed an alveolar pronunciation. The alveolar pronunciation is used in some standard German varieties of South-Eastern and North-Western Germany, AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
, and especially SwitzerlandSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
. In many varieties, both with a uvular rhotic and with an alveolar one, the rhotic is often vocalizedVocalization, or vocalisation , may refer to:*Speech communication*Vocal music*A type of animal communication involving their vocal cords...
at the ends of syllables. Non-standard varieties employ the alveolar trill more often.
Yiddish
The upper/lower distinction also historically influenced the development of upper and lower dialects of YiddishYiddish is a non-territorial High German language of Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world...
, the historic vernacular language of Ashkenazi JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s. As these Jews migrated to Eastern Europe (and later America etc.), they brought their particular pronunciations with them.
English
Speakers of the traditional English dialect of NorthumberlandNorthumberland is a ceremonial county and unitary district in the North East of England. It borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham to the south and Tyne and Wear to the south east, as well as having a border with the Scottish Borders council area to the north, and nearly eighty miles of North...
and County DurhamCounty Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in North East England. The county town is Durham.The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington. The county has an industrial heritage and its economy was historically based on coal and iron mining...
used a uvular r known as the "Northumbrian burr". However, this is no longer used by contemporary speakers, who realise as an alveolar approximantThe alveolar approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents alveolar and postalveolar approximants is , a lowercase letter r rotated 180 degrees; the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r\.For ease of...
, , in common with other varieties spoken in the Anglosphere-Definitions:According to a post on Word Spy, a blog on unusual words, the term was first used by author Neal Stephenson in his 1995 novel The Diamond Age. Stephenson did not use the term in any specific geopolitical sense but rather to describe a fictional race called the Atlantans who, when...
.
Danish and Swedish
The pronunciation of an alveolarAlveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...
rhotic predominates northern ScandinaviaScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
, with additional retroflex pronunciations of consonant clusters , , , and in most of NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
and the larger part of SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
. However, the rhotic used in DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
proper is a voiced pharyngeal fricativeThe voiced pharyngeal approximant/fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents it is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is ?\....
, and the Swedish regions of Skåne, Blekinge' is one of the provinces of Sweden , situated in the south of the country. It borders Småland, Skåne and the Baltic Sea.Blekinge consists of 5 municipalities; Karlskrona, Ronneby, Karlshamn, Sölvesborg and Olofström....
, southern Halland' is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden , on the western coast of Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Scania and the sea of Kattegat.-Administration:...
and southern Småland' is a historical province in southern Sweden.Småland borders Blekinge, Scania or Skåne, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means Small lands...
a uvular trillThe uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a small capital R. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is R\. This consonant is one of several collectively called guttural R...
for a rhotic. The Swedish as spoken in Skåne is sometimes wrongly mistaken to be a dialect of DanishDanish is one of the North Germanic languages , a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. It is spoken by around 6 million people, mainly in Denmark; the language is also used by the 50,000 Danes in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany where it holds the...
. The origin of the guttural rhotic in Denmark and southern Sweden is not well understood, as it was alveolar in both regions before Sweden received SkånelandSkåneland, or Skånelandskapen, are Swedish scientific denominations, used in historical contexts for the historical Danish land in southern Scandinavia, which as the autonomous polity Scania joined Zealand and Jutland in the formation of a Danish state in the early 800s...
.
Norwegian
Most of Norway uses an alveolar flap, but about one third of the inhabitants of Norway are now using the uvular rhotic. In the western and southern part of South-Norway however, the uvular rhotic is still spreading. The origin of this uvular rhotic spreading was initially the city of Bergen
Slavic languages
The languages of the Sorbian minority in SaxonyThe Free State of Saxony is a federal state of Germany, located in the southeastern part of present-day Germany. It is the tenth-largest German state in area and the sixth largest in population , of Germany's sixteen states.Long in the heart of German-speaking Europe, Saxony became one of the new...
, eastern GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
, are typically spoken with a uvular trillThe uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a small capital R. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is R\. This consonant is one of several collectively called guttural R...
rhotic due to GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
influence.
The same pronunciation is sometimes found in SilesiaSilesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in present-day Poland, with parts in the Czech Republic and Germany....
and other German influenced regions of PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
in a few local dialects but is overall quite rare even in these regions and does not exist in the standard Polish language. Amongst Polish speakers, a uvular rhotic is seen as a defective pronunciation.
Hebrew
In HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Culturally, it is considered a Jewish language. Hebrew in its modern form is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel while Classical Hebrew has been used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world for over...
, the classical pronunciation associated with the consonant ר rêš was an alveolar flap , and was grammaticallyIn linguistics, grammar is the set of logical and structural rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology and syntax, often complemented by phonetics, phonology,...
treated as an ungeminableIn phonetics, gemination happens when a spoken consonant is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than a short consonant.Consonant length is distinctive in some languages, for instance Arabic, Estonian, Finnish, Russian, Classical Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Latin, and Luganda....
phoneme of the language. In most dialects of Hebrew among the JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
ish diasporaA diaspora is any movement of a population sharing common ethnic identity. While refugees may or may not ultimately settle in a new geographic location, the term diaspora refers to a permanently displaced and relocated collective.Diasporic cultural development often assumes a different course from...
, it remained a flap or a trillThe alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar trills is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r. It is informally and commonly called the rolling R or...
. However, some Ashkenazi dialects as preserved among Jews in northern Europe carried a uvular rhotic, either as a trill or fricative . This was because many (but not all) native dialects of Yiddish were spoken that way, and their liturgical Hebrew carried the same pronunciation.
An apparently unrelated uvular rhotic is believed to have appeared in Tiberian HebrewTiberian Hebrew designates the canonical yet extinct pronunciation of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh and related documents. This traditional medieval pronunciation was committed to writing by Masoretic scholars based in the Jewish community of Tiberias in the period ca. 750-950 CE...
, where it is believed to have coexisted with additional non-guttural articlations of /r/ depending on circumstances.
Yiddish influence
Though an Ashkenazi Jew in Czarist RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, the ZionistZionism is the international political movement that originally supported the reestablishment of a homeland for the Jewish People in Palestine. The area was the Jewish Biblical homeland, called the Land of Israel...
Eliezer ben Yehuda based his Standard HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Culturally, it is considered a Jewish language. Hebrew in its modern form is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel while Classical Hebrew has been used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world for over...
on the Sephardic dialect originally spoken in SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, and therefore recommended an alveolar R. But as the first waves of Jews to resettle in the Holy LandThe Holy Land , generally refers to the geographical region of the Levant called Land of Canaan or Land of Israel in the Bible, and constitutes the Promised land...
were northern Ashkenazi, they came to speak Standard Hebrew with their preferred uvular articulation as found in YiddishYiddish is a non-territorial High German language of Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world...
or modern standard GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
, and it gradually became the most prestigious pronunciation for the language. The modern State of Israel has Jews whose ancestors came from all over the world, but nearly all of them today speak Hebrew with a uvular R because of its modern prestige and historical elite status.
Israeli Hebrew
Many Jewish immigrants to Israel spoke ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
in their countries of origin, and pronounced the Hebrew rhotic as an alveolar trill, identical to Arabic rāʼ. Under pressure to assimilate, many of them began pronouncing their Hebrew rhotic as a voiced uvular fricative, often identical to Arabic ġayn. However, in modern Sephardic and MizrahiMizrahi Jews or Mizrahim, , also referred to as Edot HaMizrach are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus. The term Mizrahi is used in Israel in the language of politics, media and some social scientists for Jews from the Arab world and...
poetry and folk music, as well as in the standard (or "standardized") Hebrew used in the Israeli media, an alveolar rhotic is sometimes used.
Arabic
While most dialects of ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
retain the Classical pronunciation of ر as an alveolar trillThe alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar trills is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r. It is informally and commonly called the rolling R or...
or tap , a few dialects use a uvular trillThe uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a small capital R. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is R\. This consonant is one of several collectively called guttural R...
. These include:
- The dialect of Mosul
Mosul is a city in northern Iraq and the capital of the Ninawa Governorate, some 400 km northwest of Baghdad...
in IraqIraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , also known as Mesopotamia, is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.Iraq shares borders with Jordan to the west, Syria...
- The Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
dialect in BaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab World....
- The Jewish
The Judæo-Arabic languages are a collection of Arabic dialects spoken by Jews living or formerly living in the Arab world; the term also refers to more or less classical Arabic written in the Hebrew script, particularly in the Middle Ages. Just as with the rest of the Arab world, Arabic-speaking...
dialect in AlgiersAlgiers is the capital and largest city of Algeria, and the second largest city in the Maghreb . According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630...
- The dialect of Fes
Fes may refer to:* Fes, Morocco, also known as Fez, a city in Morocco* Persona 3 FES, an 'add-on' disk for Shin Megami Tensei:Persona 3.FES is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:...
in MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
Though the guttural rhotic is rare in Arabic, uvular sounds are common in this language. The uvular fricative is a common standard pronunciation of the letter ghain (along with ).