rhotacism
/ˈroʊtəˌsɪzəm/
noun
- A speech disorder or habit in which a person has difficulty pronouncing the 'r' sound, often making it sound like 'w' or another sound.
- His rhotacism made the word 'rabbit' sound like 'wabbit'.
- Many young children have mild rhotacism that resolves without treatment.
- The speech therapist helped the child overcome rhotacism by practicing tongue placement.
- In linguistics, the historical change of a consonant (especially 's' or 'z') into an 'r' sound in certain languages.
- Rhotacism in Latin turned the word 'flos' into 'floris' in the genitive case.
- The professor explained how rhotacism affected the development of some Germanic languages.
- Rhotacism is a common sound change in the history of many Indo-European languages.