• Vingst [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    3 months ago

    Most of England dropped the rhotic R to follow after the aristocracy who changed it to differentiate themselves from commoners. Spain adopted an inbred king’s lisp into their pronunciation. What about Portugal?

    • OperationOgre [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.net
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      3 months ago

      That European Spanish phonology includes the /θ/ sound for z, ce, and ci does not make it a “lisp.” Spaniards can and do have the “regular” /s/ sound just like other dialects of Spanish. It would be just as silly to say that English speakers who say “think” instead of “sink” speak with a lisp when they are two different words separated by a minimal pair

      A single person with a lisp (even a king) cannot influence a language spoken by millions of people. Languages change via natural processes over time, the king thing is an urban legend

      • Vingst [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        3 months ago

        Carlos II, but now I’m reading that that’s just a myth. It’s varies regionally and dates back further to the 15th century.

    • MaoTheLawn [any, any]@hexbear.net
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      3 months ago

      Is that rhotic R thing true? When I think about rhotic accents in the UK it’s mostly just South West England. Why would that side of the country spontaneously keep it while the rest drops it?