Italian R (Questions About Your Target Languages) Language Learning Forum

Italian R
Tags: Pronunciation \| Italian
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Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages

Jackal11 Groupie United States Joined 5457 days ago 41 posts - 45 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Latin	Message 1 of 2 14 October 2010 at 8:47am \| IP Logged
	I've spent considerable time trying to learn to make the alveolar trill for Italian. I've finally managed to get the tip of my tongue to vibrate and am working on incorporating this sound into words like 'principe.' To my dismay however, when I tried showing this to my Italian teacher, who comes from Rome, she said it still sounds like a uvular trill. So then I replaced the trill with an alveolar tap which, in my American dialect of English is equivalent to the 'tt' in 'butter.' She said that that sounded exactly right! I've done further research into this area and conflicting sources tell me different things: some sources say Italian uses only an alveolar trill but that this trill is often quick enough to allow only one 'tap' against the alveolar ridge; other sources say Italians use the alveolar trill only at the beginnings of words and for geminated consonants and use the alveolar flap elsewhere. So my question is, can anyone tell me who's right? 1 person has voted this message useful
Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6234 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese	Message 2 of 2 14 October 2010 at 12:11pm \| IP Logged
	Analysis and terminology differ, but your last description sounds reasonable. Also, listen to the sounds that native speakers actually make. It essentially comes down to properly trilling for geminate consonants and word-initially, and doing something else (whether you analyze it as a trill with just one contact, a tap, or a flap - though wikipedia's article on Italian phonology is insistent that it is not a flap), as far as I know. You probably don't want to use an uvular trill in Italian. Some Italian speakers use it, but it sounds quite strange to most. 1 person has voted this message useful

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