Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Too frequent use of r.
  • noun Erroneous pronunciation of r; utterance of r with vibration of the uvula.
  • noun Conversion of another sound, as s, into r.
  • noun Also spelled rotacism.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun 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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An exaggerated use of the sound of the letter R.
  • noun countable, linguistics : A linguistic phenomenon in which a consonant changes into an R, such as Latin flos becoming florem in the accusative case.
  • noun Inability to pronounce the letter R; derhotacization.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From New Latin rhotacismus ("excessive or peculiar use of [r], especially the conversion of another sound (usually [s] or [z]) to [r]"), from Ancient Greek * ῥωτακισμός, from ῥωτακίζω (rhotakizō, "I incorrectly use ρ"), from ῥῶ (rhō, "rho (the Greek equivalent of r)")

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Examples

  • Sounds like proper Ringlish if you'll excuse an exaggerated intervocalic rhotacism.

    languagehat.com: UNCLEFTISH BEHOLDING. 2004

  • Since then he's discussed rhotacism in Venezuela (eg «\er negro\» for el negro 'the black one'), leísmo in Madrid (the use of the indirect pronoun as a direct object), and Occitan/Provençal, among other things.

    languagehat.com: ROMANIKA. 2004

  • They comprise chiefly: sigmatism or imperfect pronunciation of s; rhotacism or imperfect pronunciation of r; lambdacism or imperfect pronunciation of l; gam -

    The Montessori Method Anne E. Montessori George 1912

  • They show more plainly (at least concerning rhotacism) than my own notes, some imperfections of articulation of the child in the second year, which occur, however, only in single individuals.

    The Mind of the Child, Part II The Development of the Intellect, International Education Series Edited By William T. Harris, Volume IX. William T. Preyer 1869

  • She also speaks with a rhotacism, mirroring that 'classless' pronunciation of Jonathan Ross and David Bellamy.

    Anorak News Anorak 2010

  • She also speaks with a rhotacism, mirroring that 'classless' pronunciation of Jonathan Ross and David Bellamy.

    Anorak News Anorak 2010

  • She also speaks with a rhotacism, mirroring that 'classless' pronunciation of Jonathan Ross and David Bellamy.

    Anorak News Anorak 2010

  • She also speaks with a rhotacism, mirroring that 'classless' pronunciation of Jonathan Ross and David Bellamy.

    Anorak News Anorak 2010

Comments

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  • Noun: Excessive use of the letter R.

    January 26, 2009

  • Wouldn't that be rrrrhotacism?

    January 26, 2009