Ciao a tutti!

I have never talked about la pronuncia italiana with all of you, so I thought it could be fun to discover together how to pronounce a trilled ‘R’, or if you want to get really tecnico  – a voiced alveolar trill. 

 

If you have been struggling with this, just know that it doesn’t mean you will never be able to do it. Your mouth and tongue have been very comfortable forming the same sounds and moving the same way for many years, so it’s just going to take some patience to re-work those muscles.

You also might be surprised to know that in English, we already make a similar movement. Say these words out loud:

Better

Cheddar

Lotto

Powder

Did you feel how the tip of your tongue vibrated once off of the roof of your mouth? This is exactly how you will pronounce a singular ‘R’ in the Italian language. Using the same movement, try to pronounce these Italian words:

Bere¹to drink

Cera²wax

Loro³they

Paura⁴fear

To pronounce a double ‘R’ in Italian however, you will need the full trill. This is especially important since the difference between the singular trill and the full trill can completely change the meaning of words. Per esempio:

caro – dear

carro – cart

sera – evening

serra – greenhouse

Now let’s do some drills to prepare us for a full trill:

1. Pronounce the letter T and immediately after the letter D.

TD – TD – TD – TD

There is no R sound yet, but you are preparing your tongue for the necessary movement.

2. Pronounce the letter T and immediately after the letter R, and then the letter D and immediately after the letter R.

TR – TR -TR -TR

DR – DR -DR -DR

3. Prova ad allungare il suono R, try to elongate the R sound:

TRRRR – TRRRR – TRRRR

DRRRR – DRRRR – DRRRR

4. Keep your mouth open. Place the tip of your tongue on the palate behind your top teeth. At this point, pass some air and allow it to vibrate your tongue while pronouncing the letter R.

RRRR!!

I have even heard of a trick where basically you say “cup of tea” really fast over and over again right before saying a word that starts with the letter ‘R.’ The point of this exercise is to again train your tongue to move quickly up and down, from the bottom of your teeth to the top. This is exactly the kind of movement your tongue needs to make in order to produce the Italian trilled ‘R.’

Provalo, try it – cuppateacuppateacuppateacuppatea – RIGATONI!!

Qualche consiglio⁵Some tips:

1. Don’t overdo it. Be mindful of when to use the full trill and the singular trill. 
2. Practice makes perfect!
3. There’s nothing wrong with having an accent. There are even native Italians who can’t do it, or whose regional accent just doesn’t call for it (like in Parma). They call it the ‘erre moscia‘, the soft R, and people can understand them just fine.

For some Italian listening practice and some more beneficial exercises how to pronounce the Italian R, check this video out!

Here are some ‘R’ words to practice:

grazie⁶thank you

barra⁷bar

tratto⁸suddenly

quadro⁹setting

ricco¹⁰rich

rana¹¹frog

risata¹²laugh

birra¹³beer

sdraio¹⁴beach chair

protrarre¹⁵to prolong

riprodurre¹⁶to reproduce

In bocca al lupo!

• 1
  to drink
• 2
  wax
• 3
  they
• 4
  fear
• 5
  Some tips
• 6
  thank you
• 7
  bar
• 8
  suddenly
• 9
  setting
• 10
  rich
• 11
  frog
• 12
  laugh
• 13
  beer
• 14
  beach chair
• 15
  to prolong
• 16
  to reproduce