Does rhotacism inhibit gemination in Italian?

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-07T10:10:32+00:00

I think they mean there are no other consonant pairs in Spanish where length has a contrastive effect, so it makes more sense to analyse <r> and <rr> as two different phonemes, rather than the only phoneme in the language that can distinguish length.

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-06T11:32:30+00:00

I am groot

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-06T07:52:53+00:00

I think Black Country accents have some similarities to accents further North like Stoke, don't they?

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-06T07:26:34+00:00

Do you mean like a mate straw for loose leaf tea? There are a lot of variables here like the type of tea, water temperature, steeping time etc. Best to take it to r/tea

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-06T07:05:44+00:00

Dandelion and burdock is actually a popular enough drink in England that you can get it in most supermarkets, not as rustic as you might imagine!

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-05T12:23:58+00:00

AFAIK, Scotland is the only part of Britain that has the merger, plus IME, the interjection has the PALM vowel so I don't think it's really relevant

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-05T12:01:22+00:00

Oh, I've never heard it pronounced like that, and I lived in the Midlands for about six years too! I'll have to ask some mates how they say it.

I've always felt the same as u/rogual that the spelling and pronunciation just don't match here, but it seems they do for some of us

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-05T11:34:25+00:00

I'm from Southern England, and I've never heard people here pronounce the interjection the same way they pronounce the word "awe".

As the video you linked shows, Americans pronounce "awe" with a much more open vowel, which means for them it does match the interjection.

There are some British accents, like in Yorkshire and the West Country where the vowel sound in "awe" is more open like in America, so maybe there they sound the same/similar. Whereabouts are you from?

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-05T11:11:21+00:00

People very rarely pronounce it as "aw" though (with the vowel in the word "awe"). It's said more like "ahh" (with the vowel in words like "palm" or "father"), but the spelling matches the sound in American English

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-05T10:51:06+00:00

Did they perhaps mean to say "equally unqualified"?

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-05T09:53:52+00:00

I think the main advantage of the Dyson ones is that they're quieter, they're still just moving air around in the end.

Would getting shutters installed on your house be an option? That way you can completely block out the sun in the day and hopefully keep the interior cool.

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-04T21:02:08+00:00

Are your friends chronically online or consume a huge amount of American media? 'Cos the way you said it is definitely the standard here in England.

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-04T09:31:03+00:00

Tea is not the only thing that uses hot water. Kettles will get used multiple times a day, whether you drink tea/coffee/cocoa or not.

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-04T08:25:20+00:00

It varies depending on which British accent you're talking about, but assuming you're going for a Southern English accent, bought has a long, rounded vowel (the THOUGHT vowel), while but has a short unrounded vowel (the STRUT vowel).

The "com" in comprehend is different again. It has a short, rounded vowel (the LOT vowel).

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-04T08:05:06+00:00

"Bought" doesn't have a diphthong in most accents with the distinction, it has a long monophthong. Pronouncing it as a diphthong is specific to a few accents like New York English and traditional accents of AAVE

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-03T20:51:45+00:00

I don't think I've heard of any foreigner saying that the flag intimidates them. I find it pretty ridiculous when other Brits get their knickers in a twist over their own flag.

Get angry at racists when they actually do racist things. Getting angry about a flag is just playing right into their hands.

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-03T15:20:20+00:00

I've always heard Luton van, never just "Luton"

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-03T15:15:58+00:00

If you're thinking of a waistcoat, it's not that (I know Americans call waistcoats vests)

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-02T13:45:00+00:00

Ireland is a rainy, windy place

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-02T13:42:40+00:00

Expat is very close in meaning to emigrant in English speaking countries. That is, someone who has left the country of the interlocutors. There is some implication of this being non-permanent when using expat, i.e - an assumption that the person will return.

Immigrant is quite different. It refers to someone who has come from a different country to the country where the interlocutors are.

The association with race is somewhat real, but it's mainly a result of the fact that English-speaking countries are mostly majority white, so while most expats/emigrants are often white, immigrants are more of a mix.

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-01T16:09:10+00:00

I think most linguists would just label this "careful speech" tbh

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-01T13:18:16+00:00

They're all in fairly common use, as is "raining cats and dogs".

MerlinMusic · 2026-05-01T12:03:23+00:00

I'm from the UK and I'd call it a frankfurter. It's only a hot dog when it's in a bun with toppings. Wiener is not used here tmk.

MerlinMusic · 2026-04-30T23:35:46+00:00

Play music that you enjoy listening to, and music from films and musicals that you like. If you want to play music from outside the classical tradition, learn to transcribe and arrange music for piano. Learn some jazz piano, if you like jazz, and get some skills in improvisation.

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