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”.
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.
No, we say “FUCK! It’s cold”.
Or “fucking freezing init”
“OI BRUV, OM FREEZIN ME BLOODY BALLS OFF, ETS ONLY A FHUCKIN CHEWSDAY 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.
Fookin wank shrinka innit
Brrrritish
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Bwiddith
We kind of go “brur”.
Does anyone actually say brr?? 🤔
I do!
In French it sounds like Chewbacca
I literally laughed out loud at this 😆
I dont even say “brr” i jist go “fuck its colllld” and shake on the l.
Now I’m just imagining a Scotsman pronouncing it and really rolling that R 😂
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*
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”
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
Nah they go, “Blimey, guvna! I’m freezin’ me bits off, innit? It’s bloomin’ chilly, ain’t it? I’m perished, mate! Me teeth are chatterin’ like a bunch of chimps, I am! Oi, pass me a cuppa, would ya? I need somethin’ to warm me cockles, mate! I need to have a nice cuppa rosie lee.”
Thank you, very informative
