r

r, eighteenth letter of the modern Latin alphabet. It corresponds to the ancient Semitic resh and perhaps is derived from an earlier hieroglyph representing a head. The Classical Greek rho is found in a form practically unchanged in the early inscriptions from the island of Thera. The same form also occurs in early inscriptions from Attica and Corinth and in the Chalcidian alphabet.

The most usual Greek form resembled a rounded P; this was the form in which the letter occurred in the Lydian alphabet. A form in which the loop was extended to the bottom of the vertical stroke also appeared in alphabets of the eastern and western Mediterranean regions. This was the form of the letter in the Umbrian and Oscan alphabets of Italy, while Etruscan had a form in which the loop reached nearly to the bottom. In the Chalcidian alphabet a form with an additional oblique stroke occurred, and this must have been the ultimate source of the Latin form, in which the oblique stroke is exaggerated.

The minuscule form has been subject to many variations. In cursive Latin of the 6th century ce occurred a form in which the loop had disappeared, being reduced to a single curved stroke. In the Irish form in the 7th century a similar process had taken place, but the remnants of the loop and oblique stroke had become extended in a horizontal direction. On the basis of this was formed the Carolingian r, in which the vertical stroke was not extended below the line. The Carolingian form is the minuscule r of modern printing, but in handwriting it still contends with the form that resembles the Latin cursive tradition.

In general, the sound represented by the letter can be formed by placing the tip of the tongue near the palate and voicing over the tip, but its precise quality can differ considerably from one language or dialect to another and from one position to another within words. The trilled r, produced by vibrating the tip of the tongue against the ridge of bone behind the upper teeth, is found not only in several continental languages but in certain dialects of English. The back, or uvular, r is characteristic of standard French and is current in many parts of Germany. In southern England and the eastern United States the r is softly pronounced in many cases and is often dropped altogether in final position. The spelling with initial rh is practically limited to words of Greek origin (such as rhetoric), in which it represents the Classical Greek writing of rho with a rough breathing to indicate an unvoiced pronunciation.