The /r/ Phoneme in Mosuli Arabic: A Phono-Pragmatic Study

Abstract

The [r] sound is very elusive in nature. Its production is usually affected by the neighbouring sounds. This is perhaps the reason that provoked phoneticians and phonologists to pay considerable attention to the different variants of this sound.The most common variant of this sound in English is the alveolar tap (Gimson, 1970: 208). But the way this sound is pronounced in Arabic is rather different. Although there are some examples of a one-tap trill in Arabic (as in the word [barīd]-mail), this sound is normally pronounced as a trill (as in the words [ħurriyya] -freedom. [rabbī] -my lord, and [?arrazzāq] - the Provider.