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Rolling R

by byronarnold, August 16, 2008

Messages: 34

Language: English

byronarnold (User's profile) August 16, 2008, 7:11:51 PM

I suppose there a many English speakers who have the problem with the rolling r. At least, I hope I'm not so stupid I'm the only one. Anyways, any suggestions in making it? Any help would be much appreciated!

RiotNrrd (User's profile) August 16, 2008, 8:06:15 PM

You're not the only one. My mouth appears incapable of rolling r's, no matter what I try. So I will probably remain an esperantist with a slight speech impediment forever.

I believe Zamenhof was rather forgiving in this regard, however, so I wouldn't sweat it.

Hispanio (User's profile) August 16, 2008, 8:49:19 PM

Although I'm not belong to this forum, I wanna say that I think people pronounce R as they want. I saw a video in Youtube and I heard the sound, sometimes rolling, sometimes not.

This is not a problem.

And excuse me if I intruded in the forum.

hiyayaywhopee (User's profile) August 16, 2008, 9:44:07 PM

Hispanio:Although I'm not belong to this forum, I wanna say that I think people pronounce R as they want. I saw a video in Youtube and I heard the sound, sometimes rolling, sometimes not.

This is not a problem.

And excuse me if I intruded in the forum.
Don't be ridiculous... the only requirement in this forum is that you speak English. =P

Karedio (User's profile) August 17, 2008, 12:47:34 AM

andrew.longhofer:Actually, my understanding is that Don HARLOW was incapable of the rolled R, but didn't like to use the standard US-EN r... so he opted for the French/German gutteral R, which sounds like a softened, voiced "ĥ." If such an eminentulo was cool with using a "non-standard" pronunciation, anyone should be fine with it. I'll post a link to the place I read that, If I can find it...
I doubt that anyone wrote that about Don Harlow. I myself have spoken with him and don't remember hearing a gutteral R. In fact a very pronounced rolled R. Here is a page of MP3 files with his voice.
http://www.esperanto.org/literaturo/mp3/

Sebasities (User's profile) August 17, 2008, 1:30:37 AM

byronarnold:I suppose there a many English speakers who have the problem with the rolling r. Anyways, any suggestions in making it? Any help would be much appreciated!
I don't know if this will help you, but I hope that it will be useful.
French is my mother tongue and it's easy for my to roll my R an to explain what happens when I pronounce it.
When I pronounce an english R, my tongue touches the upper molars each side of the mouth and doesn't touch the front teeth ("incisives", in french). And the sound vibration is at the bottom of the throat, in the neck.
But when I pronounce a rolled R, my tongue is almost sticked at the bottom of the mouth and touches the lower front teeth ("incisives"). And the sound vibration is done by the uvula. With the french R, the uvula vibrates only once. With the slavish R (as in esperanto, I think), the uvula vibrate thrice or more.

Senlando (User's profile) August 17, 2008, 1:32:25 AM

half of my family has the same problem, where they can't roll there r's. but in my family it seems to be do to a genetic trait that is fairly common where the tongue is not very flexible and can't twist and turn like other peoples. luckily i don't have this trait, but i wonder for people who have this genetic trait if it's even possible to roll the "R"? i tried to get my mom to roll her "r"s but she can't even roll her tongue so thats kind of a lost cause. I'm sure Zamenhof wouldn't have expected everyone to roll their "r"s if he new that for some people it's not possible. i personally think that in eo, the most important thing is being able to communicate, and it shouldn't matter how you say your "R"s.

leper (User's profile) August 17, 2008, 5:07:16 AM

it's almost impossible to explain to someone how to roll their 'R's... though I've managed to teach at least one person after a long time rido.gif

My way of explaining it is that you try to set up an oscillation in your tongue - begin by opening your mouth about 1/3 and placing the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth.

The next thing I say is "forget the 'rrr' sound!" many people concentrate too hard on making the 'R' and not on trying to get the oscillation.

So try that, and just breathe out through your mouth. Try adjusting the position of the tip of your tongue on the mouth roof, as well as the pressure with which you press it up there - especially important to try relaaaxing. After a while, you'll get there!!!

Oŝo-Jabe (User's profile) August 18, 2008, 10:35:29 PM

The tounge location is very close to a 'd'. You can try to get close to vibrating by doing a 'd' sound over and over, then putting more air, and making the 'd' less distinct. (It's harder to explain than it is to do it.)

BeRReGoN (User's profile) August 19, 2008, 6:39:33 AM

You can use this tip.

Just say: lo no ro

and after some tries you will probably succeed to do a rolled R.

Myself i never been good with it and it's not natural yet. In fact when i was young i was almost not prononcing the r letter.

Now i can get a rolled r when it's at the beginning of a sound like rugxa or trinki, deziri but i can't roll it when it's at the end like in porti.

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