I feel like it would be hard to say “brr” with an English accent, because the soft R would just make it sound like “buh”.
We kind of go “brur”.
If it is particularly taters out it can be done by clenching your teeth, lips together but not firmly closed, saying ‘buh’ and blowing. The ‘rrrr’ is produced by your lips flapping together. It is quite fun to do
Fookin wank shrinka innit
Tbh, I don’t think you really understand how the non-rhotic accent works. In this case, the /r/ would be fully pronounced, as it would be at the start of a word. Say bread, elongate the r and skip the ed part and you have what it sounds like.
If you’re very used to hearing the bunched r, the British version still might sound softer, but even in the USA (where most people use bunched r) it’s still common to hear an r made with the tip of the tongue behind the teeth (upper or lower).
I’m ignoring the other r sounds, but you do find a lot of them across the various regional English accents.
Does anyone actually say brr?? 🤔
Like, all the time.
Every time i get out of shower (barring summer), for one.
I do!
I don’t have the answer but I’ve always thought it was interesting that British-English spells the filler words that Americans normally write as “uhh” or “um” as “er” or “erm”
Not all British accents are non-rhotic to begin with. Exposure to the sound and ability to reproduce it, even if not a lot in speech, means that the onomatopoeia, if used, should be the same.
In languages where a sound doesn’t exist, it gets more interesting. In Japanese, bzzz is not pronounceable and for a buzzer (or something like a phone in vibrate mode) they will say ブー (buu) which is just the syllable bu with a long u sound (think of a crowd booing, but the o vowel there is different to the Japanese u vowel).
that’s really neat. though I was hoping they would r-r-r-r-oll the R. now I’m curious about different onomatopoeia in other languages
The Spanish roll their tongues, the British swallow theirs
You are so close. bzzz is not any closer to the buzzing sound than the japanese buu
I would argue it depends upon the buzzing device, but bzzz for all of them is indeed arbitrary. Even IPA doesn’t represent sounds that humans can’t produce, so it wouldn’t suffice, but them’s the breaks.
At least it has the vibration.
sound is vibration
But not the vibration. Of buzzing. Like the “gravel”-y type testosterone vibration.
If they can brrap, they can brr
No, we say “FUCK! It’s cold”.
Or “fucking freezing init”
ih ah bit coal oot?
at least that waht it sounded like up north yorks when I first moved there from New Zealand
I dont even say “brr” i jist go “fuck its colllld” and shake on the l.
What a wonderful mental scene you have crafted for us. Thank you.
In French it sounds like Chewbacca
I literally laughed out loud at this 😆
Brrrritish
Bwiddith
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I’m Australian. I say something closer to “buh”, but I introduce vibrato to the sound down near my vocal cords, rather than by trilling the R in my mouth
Interesting, I can see that.
For me it’s a vowel sound, sure, but the mouth is definitely in, or moves to, the position it would be if a pronounced R, and presumably a vowel, was about to follow.
Probably more so than in the pronunciation of name of the letter R itself, in fact, which is indistinguishable from “ah”.
But perhaps more importantly, no, we generally don’t say “brr” anyway, except in exaggeration or for effect. You’re more likely to hear something like “it’s bl–dy freezing” or “my hands/feet are like ice”.
Poorly
Poh-lee*
