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Is R pronounced differently in Spanish? | ||
Tags: Pronunciation | Spanish | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6014 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes  Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 17 of 21 04 June 2010 at 1:43pm | IP Logged | |||||
The good news is that this isn't important... yet. The first step is learning that R and RR are different. If you pronounce the two sounds differently, then you are learning both as independent sounds. Once you have learned them as independent sounds, you can change your accent independently on each sound. If you are pronouncing them differently -- even if unaccurately -- you are doing the right thing. Aiming for an approximately good accent often leads people to confuse R and RR and they get stuck further down the road -- the claim that some people are incapable of learning the difference is (IMO) not true: some people prevent themselves from being able to learn it by learning badly to start with. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Levi Pentaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5570 days ago 2268 posts - 3328 votes Speaks: English*, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian | Message 18 of 21 05 June 2010 at 6:13am | IP Logged | |||||
Really? They sound very different to me, because we have both sounds in American English! It's the difference between "jarring" /ˈdʒɑɹɪŋ/ (English R) and "jotting" /ˈdʒɑɾɪŋ/ (Spanish single-R). In American and Canadian English, as well as some Australian and British dialects, the letter "t" is pronounced like Spanish "r" when it occurs between two vowels of which the first vowel is stressed. So if you speak a typical North American accent, you will notice that the "tt" in the word "butter" is not emphasized the way it typically is in British speech. It's just a quick tap of the tongue to a part of the top of the mouth called the alveolar ridge (see picture). 
That is exactly the sound you should be making for the Spanish "r". The word "pero" should rhyme with the American English word "ghetto", and "para" should rhyme with "gotta" (though the Spanish vowels are a little different of course). Listen carefully and the difference between this sound and the English "r" sound should be clear. Additionally, you should take care not to pronounce the Spanish letter "t" this way; it should always be emphasized, with a full stoppage of the air coming out of your mouth. Don't tap it the way we do in American English "butter" and "ghetto". Emphasize it like the British do, but without the puff of air afterwards (that "h"-sound which linguists call "aspiration"). Edited by Levi on 07 June 2010 at 5:42pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6014 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 19 of 21 07 June 2010 at 1:41pm | IP Logged | |||||
...are you sure? I'm not saying your accent doesn't have a double-R sound in it, but I can't say I have ever heard an American accent that has the thick rolled R. Granted, I mostly know American accents from TV.... 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5456 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 20 of 21 07 June 2010 at 3:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
I'm sure the Spanish RR does not exist in American English. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Levi Pentaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5570 days ago 2268 posts - 3328 votes Speaks: English*, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian | Message 21 of 21 07 June 2010 at 5:41pm | IP Logged | |||||
I'm not talking about the double-R sound. I'm talking about the single-R sound, which MasterMoron is having trouble distinguishing from the English R sound. By "both sounds" I meant those two sounds, which are present in all the American and Canadian accents I ever hear. Sorry for any confusion. The presence of the Spanish single-R sound in North American English as an allophone of /t/ and /d/ is what causes many North Americans to mispronounce "cata" and "cada" in a way that would be perceived as "cara" by Spanish speakers. Edited by Levi on 07 June 2010 at 5:52pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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