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The Finnish "r" | ||
Tags: Finnish | Pronunciation | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Lindsay19 Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5819 days ago 183 posts - 214 votes  Speaks: English*, GermanC1 Studies: Swedish, Faroese, Icelandic | Message 1 of 8 31 March 2009 at 10:20pm | IP Logged |
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I've been flirting with the idea of learning Finnish, and one thing that stands out in my mind about this language, and something that draws me to it, is the way in which Finns pronounce "r"s. Being a native English speaker, I've had some trouble trying to immitate this sound, and I'm starting to think it's a lost cause, and that my accent will always give me away, no matter how far advandced I become in the language. I've managed to over come what I thought would be the impossible - the German "r", but that's staring to look like child's play when compared to this!
Are my worries grounded? Has anyone had any success, or heard of others that have over come this, and have been able to prefectly pronounced the Finnish "r"? Is there any hope? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| GibberMeister Bilingual Pentaglot Groupie Scotland Joined 5806 days ago 61 posts - 67 votes Speaks: Spanish, Catalan, Lowland Scots*, English*, Portuguese | Message 2 of 8 31 March 2009 at 11:48pm | IP Logged |
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Imitate Groundskeeper Willie from the Simpsons!
The Finnish R is the same as in Scotland, Spanish Italian and many other languages, isn't it? I might be wrong but I always thought the T in water in N America is really an R. Very similar anyway. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| snovymgodom Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5723 days ago 136 posts - 149 votes Speaks: English*, Russian | Message 4 of 8 01 April 2009 at 3:16am | IP Logged |
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The official sound is indeed an alveolar trill, but in many cases it can be pronounced as a simple flap/tap. As Vai said, the trill is necessary in words with geminate (doubled) r such as herra.
I had trouble with the alveolar trill at first, but I kept practicing constantly and soon I was able to produce it fine. So it certainly is possible. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Masked Avenger Triglot Senior Member Antarctica Joined 6132 days ago 145 posts - 151 votes Speaks: English, French*, Danish Studies: Finnish, Latin | Message 5 of 8 01 April 2009 at 1:02pm | IP Logged |
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That 'R' sound, with the sometimes oddly placed 'h' sound (like in 'vihreä'), are the only real challenge in Finnish pronounciation.
I may be the only one here, but I somehow find it easier to do the Finnish 'R' when it is inside a word rather than starting it. Words, for example, like 'korkea' or 'kirkas' are easier to say than 'raha' or 'rikas'. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| GibberMeister Bilingual Pentaglot Groupie Scotland Joined 5806 days ago 61 posts - 67 votes Speaks: Spanish, Catalan, Lowland Scots*, English*, Portuguese | Message 6 of 8 01 April 2009 at 5:04pm | IP Logged |
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I can understand the difficulty though when it's a sound that doesn't exist in your own language.
The Finnish R isn't a problem for me at all as it's in my natural speech as is the German type of 'ch'. What I find extremely difficult is the German and French type of R. These things can only be achieved through imitation and a lot of practice I'm afraid. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| thephilologist Tetraglot Newbie United States Joined 6032 days ago 26 posts - 29 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German, French Studies: Portuguese | Message 7 of 8 13 April 2009 at 3:59am | IP Logged |
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There's plenty of hope for the Finnish r :). It took me a long time to be able to trill r's, but it's possible to learn. What I did was to repeat "tee-dee-va" (tee like "tea", dee like the letter, and va with the "a" in "father"): driving in the car, doing yard work, in the shower, basically any time that I was alone and wouldn't annoy people with it. Start out saying it slowly to make sure you are pronouncing each syllable correctly, then go faster and faster, maintaining the distinct pronunciation of each sound. Then move the tip of your tongue to the top of your mouth near the base of your teeth (but not touching them), and blow air over it. After some practice (it may take a week or even a month), you'll feel your tongue flapping. With more practice, it'll turn into a trilled "r". Don't give up and don't let anyone tell you "some mouths aren't shaped for the trilled 'r'". It took me about five months to get it, but it is worth it since you can use it in lots of different languages. Be sure to keep your tongue loose and relaxed: it tends to tighten up while you're practicing. Just take a moment to relax it, breath a bit, and keep going!
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| j0ma Tetraglot Newbie United States Joined 5702 days ago 24 posts - 30 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English, German, Esperanto Studies: Yiddish, Mandarin | Message 8 of 8 18 April 2009 at 3:39pm | IP Logged |
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Hello !
I'm not an experienced language learner since I only know Finnish and�English, both of which I learned solely by language immersion. However, as a native Finnish speaker I can try to explain (at least my own interpretation) of how the Finnish trilled r sounds like: I've been discussing the Finnish R with speakers of other languages with trilled R's and I have come to the conclusion that the Finnish R is somehow "harder" than for example the Turkish or Hungarian trill. I had never thought about it before but after that discussion I realized it's true. The Finnish language relies a lot on the heavy trilling of R's and I think it's one of the special characteristics of Finnish. And yes, the R's need not be trilled with a single R, in that case it's just a flap. But with a double R it needs to be trilled "with attitude". This may some a bit harsh to some people but believe me, it is just how Finnish is: ugly but lovely! :) Hope this helped :) j0ma Edited by j0ma on 18 April 2009 at 3:51pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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