Can You Rrrroll Your R's?

By Irene Lim

March 2022

Can you roll your r’s? Like, properly. Like, r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r. I can’t. My twin brother can, though. People who speak languages like Spanish and Italian and Russian and Hindi roll their r’s every day! Korean has a rolled-r sound as well, but even some Koreans can’t sustain a trill. Why? Why can some people roll their r’s and some people can’t? Can it be learned? Or is it a talent you are born with? Do genetics play a role? Today, we will explore the phenomenon of rolled r’s.

The rolled r is also known as the trill or, if you want to be linguistically accurate, the “alveolar trill.” The trill looks like [ r ] in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). “Isn’t that just like a regular English 'r'?” You may ask. Out of all the world’s languages, the trill is actually more common than the “r” sound in English, so the phonetic symbol for the typical “r” in English is represented by [ ɹ ] instead. Sometimes the alveolar trill is mistaken as the alveolar tap. Try saying the word “butter.” That flick of the tongue to make the “tt” sound is the alveolar tap! Korean employs this tap in its “ㄹ” letter, which is why some Koreans may sound like they can roll their r’s but they really can’t. The alveolar tap makes essentially the same sound but it is not the same as the trill since it cannot be sustained.

Let’s go back to the very beginning. Every human is born with the same ability to pronounce all the different sounds humans can make (unless, of course, you have some sort of speaking disability). So, genetics isn’t a problem. The trill is learned. There is still hope for me, and all of you who can’t roll your r’s… yet! Trills are learned through imitation and practice. A lot of practice. In fact, the trill, and all r-sounds, called “rhotic” sounds, are some of the last sounds children learn to pronounce. Exposure is why Spanish, Italian, and Russian speakers roll their r’s so well. English doesn’t have a trill sound so many English speakers just never learn it.

But that still doesn’t explain why some English speakers have naturally learned to roll their r’s while others haven’t. Well, I’ve got an answer for you. There’s a reason why I haven’t specified what exactly the English “r” is yet. Out of the seven rhotic (“r”) sounds that can be made, English speakers usually use two of them.

The postalveolar approximant (also known as the retroflex "r") is the most common, about 60% of Americans pronounce their r’s this way. It is where the tongue curls and touches the roof of the mouth just behind the teeth to produce the “r” sound. This movement is similar to how to make the “L” sound as well. Flicking the tongue like this every time you pronounce the “r” sound builds flexibility and familiarity with that movement. Because of this, the people who have learned to say their r’s the postalveolar way have an easier time trilling.

The “bunched” or “molar” “r” is less common, even though it makes nearly the exact same sound. It is where the tongue “bunches” low in the middle of the mouth and presses against the molars in the back. This is how I pronounce my r’s. With the “bunched r”, the tongue does not practice the flicking motions required to make a trill, thus, people (me) who pronounce their r’s with a bunched tongue have a more difficult time learning to trill.

All is not lost, as I said earlier, because trills can be learned! To learn the trill, all you need is concentration and practice, practice, practice! Well, that’s what I’ve heard, anyway. Since I still can’t yet trill, here are some resources that would explain it better than me:

How to Trill Your R - Latin Tutorial

Finally An Accurate Explanation of How to Trill the Spanish R - Ten Minute Spanish

How to Roll Your R’s - Wikihow

How to Roll Your R’s - Super Coco

Which way do you pronounce your r’s? Can you trill? If not, give it a try!

(P.S. Do you know how many times I tried to trill while writing this? Like, way too many. It’s harrrrrrrrd.)

Bibliography

“Bunched R vs. Retroflex R Tongue Placement.” YouTube, Peachie Speachie, 19 June 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcrVeMYnOS4.

Davies, Emma. “Why Can't Everyone Roll Their 'R's?” BBC Science Focus Magazine, BBC, www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/why-cant-everyone-roll-their-rs/.

“Finally an Accurate Explanation of How to Trill the Spanish R.” YouTube, Ten Minute Spanish, 15 June 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrywWf3mXGI.

Harbeck, James. “What a Single Sound Says about You.” BBC Culture, BBC, 18 Mar. 2019, www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190315-what-a-single-sound-says-about-you.

“How to Roll Your R's: The Definitive Guide.” SuperCoco, www.supercocoapp.com/post/how-to-roll-your-rs/.

“How to Roll Your ‘r‘s.” WikiHow, 5 Nov. 2021, www.wikihow.com/Roll-Your-%22R%22s.

“How to Trill Your R.” YouTube, Latin Tutorial, 17 Nov. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9eN2B7Wj68.

“IPA Symbol: [ɹ].” Phonetics, 2005, home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~krussll/phonetics/transcription/english-symbols/r.html.

Lillet, Amanda. “119: The Bunched R Sound - Pronuncian: American English Pronunciation.” Pronuncian: American English Pronunciation, 5 Apr. 2016, pronuncian.com/podcasts/episode119.

Marie, Erin. “The Real Reason Some People Can't Roll Their 'R's.” Health Digest, Health Digest, 2 Nov. 2021, www.healthdigest.com/649808/the-real-reason-some-people-cant-roll-their-rs/.

“Pronunciation of English /r/.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Apr. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronunciation_of_English_/r/.

“[ r ] Voiced Apical Alveolar Trill.” YouTube, Glossika Phonics, 1 Oct. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=uguCSUaA45k.

Scott, Tom, director. Why Jonathan Ross Can't Pronounce His Rs. YouTube, 24 May 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld3A3QCpXd4.

“Voiced Alveolar and Postalveolar Approximants.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Dec. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_alveolar_and_postalveolar_approximants.

Wostiera, Nadja. “The Many Sides of the English 'R'.” Explorations in English Language Learning, 17 June 2019, englishexplorations.check.uni-hamburg.de/the-many-sides-of-the-english-r/.