rhotacism

rho·ta·cism

 (rō′tə-sĭz′əm)

n.

1. The change of a sound such as (s) or (z) to (r) in the history of a language, such as the change of Proto-Indo-European intervocalic s to r in Latin, resulting in alternations such as that seen between the singular noun genus, "kind, sort" and its plural, genera. Also called rhoticism.

2.

a. The inability to articulate the (r) sound as a rhotic consonant.

b. The substitution of the (r) sound with another sound, such as (w), because of this inability.

3. The articulation of a sound other than (r) as (r), especially the articulation of (z) as (r).

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[German Rhotacismus, from Byzantine Greek rhōtakismos, excessive or erroneous use of the letter rho : Greek rhō, the letter rho; see rho + Greek -takizein in iōtakizein, to pronounce the letters eta and upsilon with the sound of iota (iōta, iota + -izein, verb suff., with inserted -k- from attikizein, to speak Attic Greek, and soloikizein, to speak substandard Greek, make a solecism).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

rhotacism

(ˈrəʊtəˌsɪzəm)

n

(Phonetics & Phonology) excessive use or idiosyncratic pronunciation of r

[C19: from New Latin rhōtacismus, from Greek rhōtakizein (verb) from the letter rho]

ˈrhotacist n

ˌrhotaˈcistic adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

rhotacism

Phonetics.
1. a misarticulation of the sound r or the substitution of another sound for it.
2. Cf. lambdacism. substitution of the sound sound r for another sound, as that of l.
2. the excessive use of the sound r.
3. Phonology. replacement of the sound z or s by r in Indo-European languages, as German wesen, English were. — rhotacize, v. — rhotacistic, adj.

See also: Linguistics

-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Translations

rhotacisme