Horatius Flaccus (Horace) - Liber Primus - Carmen I (Poetry)

Comment by William Tortorelli on April 20, 2008 at 9:35pm

Can anyone tell me where to find an argument for the rolling of the letter R in Classical Rome? All I've ever heard is that Cicero refers to R as the "littera canina," but that hardly means anything.

Comment by M on April 21, 2008 at 3:47pm

The ancient grammarians described the letter R as being delivered with "lingua vibrante" or similar terms like "crispante"; that's good enough for me. Do the research and you'll find at least 6 quotes about that. The fact that the Italians have been speaking with rolled R for centuries is an argument also.

Comment