rhotacism

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rho·ta·cism

(rō′tə-sĭz′əm)

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.

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).

[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)

(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.