Practice question · True or false
English /r/ is unusual among the world's rhotics in being an approximant rather than a trill or tap.
Hints
- Consider the rhotics of Spanish, Italian, Russian and Arabic.
- Most languages with a rhotic use a trill or a tap.
Show the answer
True
Why
True. Trills and taps are far more common cross-linguistically, and the English approximant is comparatively rare. It is also why /r/ is among the hardest English sounds for learners whose own rhotic is a trill, the target is not a weaker version of what they already do.
Practise English Consonants II: the Rest, and Allophony
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More questions on English Consonants II: the Rest, and Allophony
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