What is "rhotacism"

Rhotacism \Rho"ta*cism\, n. [Gr. "rwtaki`zein to use the letter r ([rho]) overmuch: cf. F. rhotacisme.] An oversounding, or a misuse, of the letter r; specifically (Phylol.), the tendency, exhibited in the Indo-European languages, to change s to r, as wese to were.

1830, from Modern Latin rhotacismus, from Greek rhotakizein, from rho "the letter -r-," from Hebrew or Phoenician roth. Excessive or peculiar use of the -r- sound (the "burr"), especially the conversion of another sound (usually -s-) to -r-; as in Aeolian Greek, which at the end of words changed -s- into -r- (hippor for hippos, etc.). Related: Rhotacize.

n. 1 An exaggerated use of the sound of the letter R. 2 (context countable linguistics English): A linguistic phenomenon in which a consonant changes into an R, such as Latin ''flos'' becoming ''florem'' in the accusative case. 3 inability to pronounce the letter R; derhotacization.

Rhotacism or rhotacization is a sound change that converts one consonant (usually a voiced alveolar consonant: , , , or ) to a rhotic consonant in a certain environment. The most common may be of to .

The term comes from the Greek letter rho, denoting "r".

In medical contexts, rhotacism is the inability or difficulty in pronouncing the sound r. Thus, many speech pathologists call this problem de-rhotacization, because the sounds lose their rhotic quality rather than becoming rhotic.

The rhotic sounds are usually the last ones a child masters. Some people never learn to produce them; they substitute other sounds, such as the velar approximant, the uvular approximant (often called the French R), and the uvular trill.

In English, the most common occurrence of this type is a pronunciation perceived as closer to [w] (typically, though, actually the labiodental approximant ), which is known as r-labialization. This form of rhotacism has often been used in English-language media for comedic effect, since it evokes among English speakers a childlike way of pronouncing the letter R.

Rhotacism is more common among speakers of languages that have a trilled R, such as Swedish (except in the provinces of Skåne, Halland, Blekinge, Öland and southern Småland), Finnish, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Russian and Spanish. Many Quebec rural regional accents along the St Lawrence corridor are characterized by rhotacism.

Rhotacism may refer to:

• Rhotacism (sound change). the sound change converting a consonant into an r-sound
• Rhotacism (speech impediment), the inability or difficulty in pronouncing the sound r

Rhotacism may also refer to an excessive or idiosyncratic use of the letter r.