α. 1800s rotacism, 1800s– rhotacism.
β. 1800s– rhotacismus Brit. 
/ˌrəʊtəˈsɪzməs/, U.S. /ˌroʊdəˈsɪzməs/.
rhotacismn.
/ˈrəʊtəsɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /ˈroʊdəˌsɪzəm/ 1. Linguistics. The changing of another sound, esp. the phoneme /s/, into the phoneme /r/, and thus often also the changing of the spelling.
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > sound changes > [noun] > rhotacism
rhotacism1830
rhotacization1973
1830 H. Tufnell & G. C. Lewis tr. C. O. Müller Hist. & Antiq. Doric Race II. App. viii. 479n In High German Rhotacism [Ger. Rhotacismus] is very prevalent.
1844 J. W. Donaldson Varronianus 205 The same tendency to rhotacism, which is characteristic of the Umbrian, Doric and Old Norse dialects.
1887 R. S. Conway Verner's Law in Italy §5 The Latin accent had become bound by quantity..before rhotacism began, that is before 450 b.c.
1936 S. Robertson Devel. Mod. Eng. v. 142 (note) In these two forms. r has taken the place of s by a substitution called rhotacism.
1947 R. S. Wells in M. Joos Readings in Ling. I (1966) 13/1 Rhotacism had changed Latin honōsem to honorem.
1976 Language 52 341 In some instances, the process of rhotacism has left behind another trace: an epenthetic nasal consonant later in the word.
1998 S. Demiraj in tr. A. G. Ramat & P. Ramat Indo-European Langs. 481 The principal differences [between the two main dialects of Albanian] are: rhotacism of intervocalic -n- to -r-..in the southern dialect, [etc.].
2007 J. Clackson & G. Horrocks Blackwell Hist. Lat. Lang. 54 Rhotacism: intervocalic *-s- changed to -r- as in puri ‘who’ < *kwōs-i.
2. Unusual pronunciation or pronounced production of the phoneme /r/ as a phonological characteristic or speech defect; spec. the use of the burr or uvular r.
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the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > speech sound by manner > [noun] > sonant > liquid > trill > excessive
rhotacism1834
1834 R. Southey Doctor I. 175 Young Daniel was free from all the isms in Lily, and from rhotacism to boot.
a1843 R. Southey Doctor (1847) VII. 261 Neither the Spaniards nor Portuguese retain in their speech that strong Rhotacism which they denoted by the double rr.
1878 tr. H. W. von Ziemssen et al. Cycl. Pract. Med. XIV. 851 (note) Fournier has described a peculiar plan of treatment for rhotacism.
1897 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Rhotacismus.
1959 ‘A. Burgess’ Beds in East ii. 49 ‘But I'm hungwy.’ A pathetic little-girl's rhotacismus.
1977 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 Feb. 147/3 The privileged families, productive of good shots with..pronounced rhotacismus, are still there to help kill pheasants.
1992 D. Crystal Encycl. Dict. Lang. & Langs. 334 Rhotacism, a phonetically abnormal use of /r/. Particularly noticeable is the ‘weak r’, where the normal articulation is replaced by a semi-vowel of a w quality or a uvular sound. The term is chiefly used in clinical contexts.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1830