Trills for the Native English Speaker

[Skxawng]

The whole r flap thing still confuses me a bit, and I blame English for that.  So in nari, the r sounds like a d, and when I watch the movie, I hear toruk pronounced sometimes with more of an English r and sometimes with the d along with a hint of r.  Maybe it would be best if someone explained what the r flap is in more detail...

Its important to keep in mind who is saying it.  When Jake Sully says it, he has a habit (which was intentionally done, I'm guessing) of english-izing the Na'vi.  However, when Na'vi say it, its far more pronounced, as it was when Neytiri was trying to teach Jake "Nari."

[wisnij]

Its important to keep in mind who is saying it.  When Jake Sully says it, he has a habit (which was intentionally done, I'm guessing) of english-izing the Na'vi.  However, when Na'vi say it, its far more pronounced, as it was when Neytiri was trying to teach Jake "Nari."

Hehe, yeah, she had to bop him a few times before he got that one down.   

[Tirealì'u]

In one of the interviews with Frommer, he commented that some of the lines were not pronounced correctly in the movie, which wasn't intentional - but he let it slide, because they were mistakes by characters who would, realistically, be making errors anyway.

[Karyu Amawey]

Hey yeah, you guys are right, there do appear to be trills in Na'Vi, and the elongated soft ll as well.  Heh, hopefully all these errors will prove for mastery in the end!

[omängum fra'uti]

It's also good to note that r is a consonant while rr is a vowel.

[Seze]

I finally made some progress on trilling.  The problem now is that my rr is actually getting its trill sound from the back of my tongue (Uvular) instead of the front (Alveolar)...

[Tirealì'u]

Really? I am intrigued - I'm not sure how you are doing that. :-)

[Na'Vi Dunce]

This will help a lot, but I also have problems with the clicking sounds "px, tx, kx" in the ejectives. Any instructions on how to put clicks in my words? Or sound bytes?

[Seze]

This will help a lot, but I also have problems with the clicking sounds "px, tx, kx" in the ejectives. Any instructions on how to put clicks in my words? Or sound bytes?

Take a look at the ejective thread

Fixed

[Na'Vi Dunce]

Thank you, but the link's not redirecting me to the thread. I'll find it myself.

[Seze]

Really? I am intrigued - I'm not sure how you are doing that. :-)

I don't know either.  I can make my tongue vibrate now pretty easily, it sounds more like a buzz than a trill though, but its a start.

[Seze]

Thank you, but the link's not redirecting me to the thread. I'll find it myself.

I fixed the link, stupid URL tags...

[Tanhì'ite]

I finally made some progress on trilling.  The problem now is that my rr is actually getting its trill sound from the back of my tongue (Uvular) instead of the front (Alveolar)...

I have the same issue; I'm used to vibrating the back of my tongue (I used it to "purr" at cats as a child), but I can't seem to do the same with the alveolar. But it's a start. I've been practicing on the back, and moving the sensation along the tongue to the tip (does that make sense?) and I was able to do it once or twice.

[Tsway'eion]

I finally made some progress on trilling.  The problem now is that my rr is actually getting its trill sound from the back of my tongue (Uvular) instead of the front (Alveolar)...

I have the same issue; I'm used to vibrating the back of my tongue (I used it to "purr" at cats as a child), but I can't seem to do the same with the alveolar. But it's a start. I've been practicing on the back, and moving the sensation along the tongue to the tip (does that make sense?) and I was able to do it once or twice.

I think I have the opposite problem, i can trill from the front (Alveolar) on some words its easier than others, but i can't make the "prrrrrrrrr" noise, or anything similar, but i can produce a slightly trilled r from the spanish name Andres, partially because i heard it a lot in my old high school Spanish class, and partially because i actually know an Andres who used to correct me all the time.

This results in me only saying  "Nari, and Mokri" about 1/4th of the time correctly.

soo... any tips on how to practice the (Uvular) kind of trill?

[Uniltìranyu]

I have the same problem as a few of you: I can make the purring sound and the flap-r found in "Nari" (which is the same as in Japanese - a cross between an "L" and an "R"), but I can't do the regular trilling sound. It's the only part of Na'vi that I can't do. Yet.

[Wendell890]

Would making the sound somewhat in your throat be the same as trilling with your tongue?

[kxanì tsamsiyu]

yea im having trouble doing the "Trill" the "rr" but i am fine doing the "r" which is in nari.

My dad can trill his tongue very well and i keep telling him to teach my but he just laughs at me.

[Doolio]

okay:

1 - try to position your tongue more to the back than when you're doing the single "r"
2 - it is important to point out that you can't do the rolling "rrrr" if you are talking silently (you could whisper though, but it has to be a loud whisper lol). the air flow must be somewhat strong. or you will end up with something like "dhhhhhhhh"

practical example:

a whistle lol


your tongue flaps rapidly due to constant air pressure, similar to the little ball inside the whistle. if you blow whistle hard enough, it will sound something like a high-pitched "rrrrrrrrrrr" (which is what we need). if you blow in the whistle too weak/slow, the ball will not 'get in the groove' and you will get the dreaded "dhhhh"-like sound.

hope this helps, if even a little bit:)

[kxanì tsamsiyu]

Thanks for this explanation, i will get practicing.

[Tanhì'ite]

I finally made some progress on trilling.  The problem now is that my rr is actually getting its trill sound from the back of my tongue (Uvular) instead of the front (Alveolar)...

I have the same issue; I'm used to vibrating the back of my tongue (I used it to "purr" at cats as a child), but I can't seem to do the same with the alveolar. But it's a start. I've been practicing on the back, and moving the sensation along the tongue to the tip (does that make sense?) and I was able to do it once or twice.

I think I have the opposite problem, i can trill from the front (Alveolar) on some words its easier than others, but i can't make the "prrrrrrrrr" noise, or anything similar, but i can produce a slightly trilled r from the spanish name Andres, partially because i heard it a lot in my old high school Spanish class, and partially because i actually know an Andres who used to correct me all the time.

This results in me only saying  "Nari, and Mokri" about 1/4th of the time correctly.

soo... any tips on how to practice the (Uvular) kind of trill?

I learned how to vibrate the back of my tongue so long ago, that I can't remember how I first started doing it. It's making it hard to explain! All I can really say is start from the back, and work your way forward. If you can make the sound in your throat very well, try doing it with the back of your tongue, then mid tongue, then tip. That's how it feels, anyway, and it's been helping me.

And, actually, the 'carne' in 'carne asada' really is a good word to practice, since it's a word that's pretty common, and easy to find and listen to. At least I found that to be the case.

I'm sorry, I know this probably wasn't much help. Just keep practicing!