Friday, January 15, 2016

The Trill of it All

Overheard at Lem's:
Sixty Grit said...
Mr. Lit, I just now watched the 1931 film version of Die Dreigroschenoper. Very interesting film, about which I know next to nothing. When the song known here as "Mack the Knife" is sung, a few minutes into the movie, I was struck by how the r's at the end of words were trilled. I remember you mentioned that not long ago, but I had never heard such a thing. Spanish rolled r's, Scottish (aye, laddie, my people) and how they roll their r's, but the German thing was different indeed.
I have many questions about the meaning of that story, how it represented its time and place, did the writer, and I don't mean to call him vile, really think that was an accurate representation of Victorian England. I marvel at how the songs have held up for over 80 years and how I have been listening to them for close to 60 years. Amazing stuff. But for now I'd like to know if the r affectation you were writing about is what the fellow is doing starting at 4:30.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUgkrlL8GkE
Oh yeah, one more thing, the subtitles frequently replace the letter "n" with an "r", which makes the coronation references very odd. 
January 14, 2016 at 10:01 PM

The German "r" is an untamed thing. Northern Germans prefer a guttural "r," trapped in the back of the throat. The Dutch are wholly in the gutter when it comes to 'r's.  Southern Germans trill their 'r's.

Here is an opinion I agree with:

6 comments:

rhhardin said...

Old German print ("Fraktur") r's are trilled, is the rule I go by.

Also you can't tell Kunst from Kunft in Fraktur, leading to serious misunderstandings of German philosohers.

ricpic said...

Serious misunderstanding of German philosophers is the pits.

The Dude said...

Thanks, Chick. The background music was mixed a bit too loud for my old ears, and towards the end I expected that it was about to become the time on Sprockets when we dance. I think I get the differences, which, as with regional English pronunciation, are many. I mean, don't even get me started on how Bostonians pronounce their "r's".

What do you call shorts worn by Germans in Canada? Lieder Hoser, eh?

ricpic said...

"...don't even get me started on how Bostonians pronounce their 'r's'."

Louis CK, a product of the Boston public school system, thought the word was vaginer until his mid-20's. Okay, I know you're referring to pahk and cah but I thought I'd throw that in to confuse matters. ;^)

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Dude said...

Ricpic - that is the law of conservation of r's. You drop them here, add them elsewhere. JFK always called that island nation 90 miles from Key West Cuber.