Rhotacism (speech impediment)

In medical contexts, rhotacism (/ˈroʊtəsɪzəm/) is the inability to pronounce or difficulty in pronouncing the sound r. Speech
pathologists call the condition de-rhotacization, because the sounds lose theirrhotic quality rather than becoming rhotic.

Contents
Language development
Across languages
People with rhotacism
In popular culture
See also
References

Language development
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 [ʋ]), which is known as r-labialisation. 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, an example being
Elmer Fudd's pronunciation of "rabbit"[ˈɹ̠ʷæbɪ̈t] as "wabbit" [ˈwæbɪ̈t] in Looney Tunes cartoons. Often, people with the condition are
mistakenly referred to as a person with alisp, which is a completely different condition.

Across languages
Rhotacism is more common among speakers of languages that have a trilled R, such as Arabic, Bulgarian, Finnish, Hungarian,
Indonesian, Italian, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish (except in the provinces of Skåne, Halland, Blekinge, Öland and
southern Småland). Most Mandarin speakers can pronounce R at the beginning of a word, but many cannot easily pronounce R that
occurs at the end of a word, since that is how the sound is applied in Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese characters. This is a matter
of phonotactics, and should not be thought of as a speech impediment.

People with rhotacism

Jonathan Ross, British television and radio presenter[1]
Lucy Worsley
Marlene Dietrich
Kay Francis
Roy Hodgson[2]
The leader of Hezbollah, Lebanese Sheikh Hasan Nasrallah, has been ridiculed for his rhotacism, particularly his
“Amwīka”* and “Iswā’īl”* for Arabic Amrīka ("America"), Isrā’īl ("Israel").

In popular culture
Elmer Fudd in Looney Tunes
 Barry Kripke in The Big Bang Theory is depicted as having this speech impediment. However , he has problems with
both "R" and "L" sounds. His Siri on his iPhone answers him back as "Bawwy". He is last seen in Season 11 episode
"The Bow Tie Asymmetry", at the end of the wedding, singing the song "At Last" as "At W ast".
In the 1979 film Monty Python's Life of Brian, Pilate is also depicted as having this speech impediment. Because of
this, people around him often cannot understand his words, and he is mocked by the townspeople of Jerusalem
when he talks to them in the square.
Tony Angelino a one time character fromOnly Fools and Horsessuffered with Rhotacism, becoming apparent during
his stage performance of theRoy Orbison song Crying (Roy Orbison song)

See also
Lambdacism, the equivalent condition with L l//.
Perception of English /r/ and /l/ by Japanese speakers

References
1. Radio's New Wave: Global Sound in the Digital Era. Routledge. 2013. p. 156.ISBN 978-1-136-44630-6.
2. Finnerty, Deirdre (3 May 2012)."Roy Hodgson: Is it wrong to mock the way he speaks?"(https://www.bbc.co.uk/new
s/magazine-17942091). BBC News. Retrieved 14 September 2018.

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