What is the German R called?

The German vocalic 'r' is so-called because it is pronounced as a vowel, not a consonant. Sometimes referred to as a 'dark schwa', vocalic 'r' is articulated with the tongue slightly lower and further back in the vowel area than the 'schwa' sound heard at the end of such German words as 'Liebe', 'Katze' and 'Ratte'.

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What is the German r sound called?

In standard German, the pronunciation is a rasping, throat-clearing sound, like a less extreme version of the sound made when gargling. Note that the gargling R is a rather short sound. Avoid the common temptation to exaggerate the gargling R sound. The gargling R is technically called the consonantal R.

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Is the German r like the French r?

Most likely yes, as the voiceless uvular fricative ʁ is the most common pronunciation of the French and the German R, but in both countries there are other possibilities. In France, only the ʁ is considered standard pronunciation, but in Germany (Hochdeutsch) r and ʀ are equally correct.

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What is the guttural r in German?

In German the guttural sound is used when the r is located at the beginning of a word. For example, rot means red and is pronounced rote, with a guttural sound distinctly similar to a French r.

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Do Germans trill their r's?

Although the first standardized pronunciation dictionary by Theodor Siebs prescribed an alveolar pronunciation, most varieties of Standard German are now spoken with a uvular rhotic, usually a fricative or approximant [ʁ], rather than a trill [ʀ].

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American reacts to the 5 HARDEST German words to pronounce

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Is the German r the same as Spanish?

As Quora User pointed out the most common pronunciation is [ʁ]. This explains the difference between the German r and the Spanish r, since the Spanish r is completely different. However, the French r and the German r are not so different. The French r is actually quite similar to the German r.

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Is rolling your r's genetic?

To many native English speakers, the rolled R is notoriously hard to pronounce since there isn't an equivalent in the English language. The biggest myth around this topic is that the ability of rolling your R's genetic. In fact, alveolar trill is a skill that can be acquired through practicing.

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What is the R at the end of German words?

*** The letter R is rolled or trilled in German. At the start of a word, it will sound like a “French R” or a “Spanish R.” At the end of a word, it's generally not pronounced, like the “uh” sound in the British English “computer.”

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How do you read the German r?

If you'd like to pronounce the German “r” with a German accent, you should say it by rolling it at the back of your throat. This may be a little hard, because the English language doesn't have this sound – you can think of it like an English “gh” or “rh” sound but deeper in your throat.

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What languages have a trilled r?

Notably, trilled /r/ is the dominant form in many languages of this family, including Russian, Icelandic, Italian and Hindi. It is also the most likely phonetic realization of /r/ in Proto-Indo-European56,57.

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Why do British not pronounce R?

This split between rhotic and non-rhotic pronunciation has its origins in London in the 1850s. Working-class speakers began dropping the /r/ sound at the ends of words. Back then, this was considered lazy, vulgar and an undesirable way of speaking. Over time though, the change spread.

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Why can't I pronounce the French R?

Your tongue might move back just a little bit. (Remember, it's the back of your tongue that should stick up! Not the front, like you do with the English “R.”) And now you can try pronouncing the French “R”.

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Is the r silent in German?

It depends where in the word the r stands and which German dialect you are speaking. When it is at the end of a word like in der, it sounds more like deja. This is because in some German dialects the people cannot roll the r.

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Is English closer to German or Latin?

English is a Germanic language and it has more words in common with German than Latin. Although it has been influenced by French language a lot, but the number of words and the grammar is still more German than Latin.

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Is French a rhotic?

In line with these observations, descriptions of French show that its uvular rhotic, traditionally a uvular trill, can display all of these realizations across the different dialects.

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