Editing Guttural R (section)

==Romance languages==

===French===
[[File:Procrastinateur - Prononciation - France (Seine-et-Marne).ogg|thumb|{{lang|fr|procrastinateur}} from [[Seine-et-Marne]].]]
The r letter in French was historically pronounced as a trill, as was the case in Latin and as is still the case in Italian and Spanish. In Northern France, including Paris, the [[alveolar trill]] was gradually replaced with the [[uvular trill]] from the end of the 17th century.<ref>{{cite journal |jstor=43342245|title=Contribution à l'histoire de la consonne ''R'' en français|last1=Straka|first1=Georges|journal=Neuphilologische Mitteilungen|year=1965|volume=66|issue=4|pages=572–606}}</ref> [[Molière]]'s ''[[Le Bourgeois gentilhomme]]'', published in 1670, has a professor describe the sound of {{IPA|/r/}} as an alveolar trill (Act II, Scene IV).<ref>{{cite book|author=Molière|title=Le bourgeois gentilhomme|year=1670|publisher=Imprimerie nationale|quote=Et l’R, en portant le bout de la langue jusqu’au haut du palais, de sorte qu’étant frôlée par l’air qui sort avec force, elle lui cède, et revient toujours au même endroit, faisant une manière de tremblement : Rra. [And the R, placing the tip of the tongue to the height of the palate so that, when it is grazed by air leaving the mouth with force, it [the tip of the tongue] falls down and always comes back to the same place, making a kind trembling.]}}</ref> It has since evolved, in Paris, to a [[voiced uvular fricative]] or approximant {{IPA|[ʁ]}}.

The alveolar trill was still the common sound of r in Southern France and in Quebec at the beginning of the 20th century, having been gradually replaced since then, due to Parisian influence, by the uvular pronunciation. The alveolar trill is now mostly associated, even in Southern France and in Quebec, with older speakers and rural settings.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

The alveolar trill is still used in French singing in classical choral and opera. It is also used in other French speaking countries as well as on French oversea territories such as French Polynesia due to the influence of the indigenous languages which use the trill.

===Portuguese===<!-- This section is linked from [[Portuguese language]] -->
[[File:Pt-br-um carro.oga|thumb|{{lang|pt|Um carro}} in Brazilian Portuguese.]]
Standard versions of [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] have two rhotic phonemes, which contrast only between vowels. In older Portuguese, these were the [[alveolar flap]] {{IPA|/ɾ/}} (written {{angbr|r}}) and the [[alveolar trill]] {{IPA|/r/}} (written {{angbr|rr}}). In other positions, only {{angbr|r}} is written in Modern Portuguese, but it can stand for either sound, depending on the exact position. The distribution of these sounds is mostly the same as in other Iberian languages, i.e.:
*{{angbr|r}} represents a trill when written {{angbr|rr}} between vowels; at the beginning of a word; or following {{IPA|/l/}}, {{IPA|/s/}}, {{IPA|/ʒ/}}, or {{angbr|n}}.  Examples: ''ca'''rr'''o'', '''''r'''ua'', ''Is'''r'''ael'', ''hon'''r'''ar''. Note that {{angbr|n}} does not represent {{IPA|/n/}}, but a nasalized vowel.
*{{angbr|r}} represents a flap elsewhere, i.e. following a vowel or following any consonant other than {{IPA|/l/}}, {{IPA|/s/}}, or {{IPA|/ʃ/}}.  Examples: ''ca'''r'''o'', ''quat'''r'''o'', ''qua'''r'''to'', ''ma'''r'''''.

In the 19th century, the [[uvular trill]] {{IPA|[ʀ]}} penetrated the upper classes in the region of Lisbon in Portugal as the realization of the alveolar trill. By the 20th century, it had replaced the alveolar trill in most of the country's urban areas and started to give way to the [[voiced uvular fricative]] {{IPA|[ʁ]}}. Many [[Northern Portuguese|northern dialects]], like [[Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro|Transmontano]], [[Douro Litoral|Portuese]] (which is heard in parts of [[Aveiro, Portugal|Aveiro]]), [[Minho Province|Minhoto]], and much of [[Beira Litoral Province|Beirão]] retain the alveolar trill. In the rural regions, the alveolar trill is still present, but because most of the country's population currently lives in or near the cities and owing to the mass media, the guttural {{IPA|[ʀ]}} is now dominant in Portugal.

A common realization of the word-initial {{IPA|/ʀ/}} in the Lisbon accent is a voiced uvular fricative trill {{IPAblink|ʀ̝}}.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Grønnum|2005|p=157}}</ref>

The dialect of the fishermen of [[Setúbal]] used the [[voiced uvular fricative]] {{IPA|[ʁ]}} for all instances of "r" – word start, intervocalic, postconsonantal and syllable ending. This same pronunciation is attested in people with [[Rhotacism (speech impediment)|rhotacism]], in a new developing variety of young people in São Tomean Portuguese,<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Bouchard |first=Marie-Eve |title=Linguistic variation and change in the Portuguese of São Tomé |date=2017 |type=Ph.D. dissertation |institution=New York University}}</ref> and in non-native speakers of French or German origin.

In Africa, the classical alveolar trill is mostly still dominant, due to separate development from European Portuguese.

In Brazil, the normal pronunciation of {{angle bracket|rr}} is voiceless, either as a [[voiceless velar fricative]] {{IPA|[x]}}, [[voiceless uvular fricative]] {{IPA|[χ]}} or a [[voiceless glottal fricative]] {{IPA|[h]}}.<ref>Mateus, Maria Helena & d'Andrade, Ernesto (2000). ''The Phonology of Portuguese'' {{ISBN|0-19-823581-X}} [http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-823581-X.pdf (Excerpt from Google Books)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628065105/http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-823581-X.pdf |date=28 June 2007 }}</ref> In many dialects, this voiceless sound not only replaces all occurrences of the traditional trill, but is also used for all {{angle bracket|r}} that is ''not'' followed by a vowel (i.e. when at the end of a syllable, which uses a flap in other dialects). The resulting distribution can be described as:
*A flap {{IPA|[ɾ]}} only for single {{angle bracket|r}} and only when it occurs either between vowels or between a preceding consonant (other than {{IPA|/n/}}, {{IPA
|/l/}}, {{IPA|/s/}}, or {{IPA|/ʃ/}}) and a following vowel. Examples: ''ca'''r'''o'', ''quat'''r'''o''.
*A voiceless fricative {{IPA|[x]}} {{IPA|[χ]}} or {{IPA|[h]}} everywhere else: when written {{angle bracket|rr}}; at the beginning of a word; at the end of a word; before a consonant; after {{IPA|/n/}}, {{IPA|/l/}}, {{IPA|/s/}}, or {{IPA|/ʃ/}}. Examples: ''ca'''rr'''o'', '''''r'''ua'', ''hon'''r'''ar'', ''Is'''r'''ael'', ''qua'''r'''to'', ''ma'''r'''''.

In the three southernmost states, however, the alveolar trill {{IPA|[r]}} remains frequent, and the distribution of trill and flap is as in Portugal. Some speakers use a guttural fricative instead of a trill, like the majority of Brazilians, but continue to use the flap {{IPA|[ɾ]}} before consonants (e.g. in ''qua'''r'''to'') and between vowels (e.g. in caro). Among others, this includes many speakers in the city of [[São Paulo]] and some neighboring cities, though an [[alveolar approximant]] {{IPA|[ɹ]}} is also common, not only in the city, but the approximant is the dominant articulation in the [[São Paulo state]], outside the capital, the most populous state in Brazil. The [[Caipira dialect|''caipira'' dialect]] has the [[alveolar approximant]] {{IPA|[ɹ]}} in the same position.

In areas where {{angle bracket|r}} at the end of a word would be a voiceless fricative, the tendency in colloquial speech is to pronounce this sound very lightly, or omit it entirely. Some speakers may omit it entirely in verb infinitives (''amar'' "to love", ''comer'' "to eat", ''dormir'' "to sleep") but pronounce it lightly in some other words ending in {{angle bracket|r}} (''mar'' "sea", ''mulher'' "woman", ''amor'' "love"). Speakers in Rio often resist this tendency, pronouncing a strong fricative {{IPA|[x]}} or {{IPA|[χ]}} at the end of such words. {{Citation needed|date=September 2019}}

The voiceless fricative may be partly or fully voiced if it occurs directly before a voiced sound, especially in its weakest form of {{IPA|[h]}}, which is normally voiced to {{IPA|[ɦ]}}. For example, a speaker whose {{angbr|rr}} sounds like {{IPA|[h]}} will often pronounce ''surdo'' "deaf" as {{IPA|[ˈsuɦdu]}} or even {{IPA|[ˈsuɦʊdu]}}, with a short epenthetic vowel that mimics the preceding vowel.

===Spanish===
In most Spanish-speaking territories and regions, guttural or uvular realizations of {{IPA|/r/}} are considered a [[speech defect]]. Generally the single flap {{IPA|[ɾ]}}, spelled ''r'' as in ''cara'', undergoes no defective pronunciations, but the alveolar trill in ''rata'' or ''perro'' is one of the last sounds learned by children and [[uvularization]] is likely among individuals who fail to achieve the alveolar articulation. This said, back variants for {{IPA|/r/}} ({{IPA|[ʀ]}}, {{IPA|[x]}} or {{IPA|[χ]}}) are widespread in rural [[Puerto Rican Spanish]] and in the dialect of [[Ponce, Puerto Rico|Ponce]],<ref>Navarro-Tomás, T. (1948). "El español en Puerto Rico". ''Contribución a la geografía lingüística latinoamericana''. Río Piedras: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, pp. 91-93.</ref> whereas they are heavily stigmatized in the dialect of the [[San Juan, Puerto Rico|capital]].<ref>López-Morales, H. (1983). ''Estratificación social del español de San Juan de Puerto Rico''. México: UNAM.</ref> To a lesser extent, velar variants of {{IPA|/r/}} are found in some rural Cuban ([[Yateras]], [[Guantánamo Province]])<ref>López-Morales, H. (1992). ''El español del Caribe''. Madrid: MAPFRE, p. 61.</ref> and Dominican vernaculars ([[Cibao]], eastern rural regions of the country)<ref>Jiménez-Sabater, M. (1984). ''Más datos sobre el español de la República Dominicana''. Santo Domingo: Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, p. 87.</ref> In the 1937 [[Parsley Massacre]], Dominican troops attacked Haitians in Cibao and the northwestern border. The popular name of the massacre comes from the [[shibboleth]] applied to distinguish Dominicans from Haitians: the suspects were ordered to name some [[parsley]] ({{langx|es|link=no|perejil}}). If they used a French or [[Haitian Creole]] pronunciation for {{lang|es-DO|r}} or {{lang|es-DO|j}}, they would be executed.

In the [[#Basque|Basque]]-speaking areas of Spain, the uvular articulation {{IPA|[ʁ]}} has a higher prevalence among bilinguals than among Spanish monolinguals.<ref name="Basque"/>

===Italian===
Guttural realization of {{IPA|/r/}} is mostly considered a speech defect in Italian (cf. ''[[:it:Rotacismo (dislalia)|rotacismo]]''), but the so-called ''r moscia'' ('limp' or 'lifeless ''r''', an [[umbrella term]] for realizations of {{IPA|/r/}} considered defective), which is sometimes uvular, is quite common in areas of [[Northwest Italy]], i.e. [[Aosta Valley]], [[Piedmont]], [[Liguria]], [[Lombardy]] and [[Emilia-Romagna]].<ref>Romano A. (2013). "A preliminary contribution to the study of phonetic variation of {{IPA|/r/}} in Italian and Italo-Romance". In: L. Spreafico & A. Vietti (eds.), ''Rhotics. New data and perspectives.'' Bolzano/Bozen: BU Press, 209–225 [http://www.unibz.it/it/library/Documents/bupress/publications/fulltext/9788860460554.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201015208/http://www.unibz.it/it/library/Documents/bupress/publications/fulltext/9788860460554.pdf|date=1 February 2016}}</ref>

===Occitan===
As with all other Romance languages, the [[alveolar trill]] {{IPA|/r/}} is the original way to pronounce the letter r in Occitan, as it was in Latin. Nowadays, the [[uvular trill]] {{IPA|[ʀ]}} and the [[Voiced uvular fricative]] or approximant {{IPA|[ʁ]}} are common in some Occitan dialects ([[Provence]], [[Auvergne]], [[Alps]], [[Limousin]]). The dialects of [[Languedoc]] and [[Gascony]] also have these realizations, but it is generally considered to be influence from French and therefore rejected from the standard versions of these dialects.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}