The name of the letter in Latin waser (/ɛr/), following the pattern of other letters representingcontinuants, such as⟨F⟩,⟨L⟩,⟨M⟩,⟨N⟩, and⟨S⟩. This name is preserved inFrench and many other languages. InMiddle English, the name of the letter changed from/ɛr/ to/ar/, following a pattern exhibited in many other words such asfarm (compare Frenchferme) andstar (compare GermanStern).
The letter R is sometimes referred to as thelittera canīna 'canine letter', often rendered in English as thedog's letter. This Latin term referred to the Latin⟨R⟩ that wastrilled to sound like a growling dog, a spoken style referred to asvōx canīna 'dog voice' (e.g. in Spanishperro 'dog').[7]
InRomeo and Juliet, such a reference is made by Juliet's nurse in Act 2, scene 4, when she calls the letter R "the dog's name". The reference is also found inBen Jonson'sEnglish Grammar.[8]
The wordprognatus as written on theSarcophagus of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus (280 BC) reveals the full development of the Latin⟨R⟩ by that time; the letter⟨P⟩ at the same time still retains its archaic shape distinguishing it from Greek or Old Italicrho.
The letter⟨R⟩ is believed to derive ultimately from an image of a head, used inSemitic alphabets for the sound/r/ because the word for 'head' wasrêš or similar in mostSemitic languages. The word became the name of the letter, as an example ofacrophony.
It developed into Greek⟨Ρ⟩ῥῶ (rhô) and Latin⟨R⟩. The descending diagonal stroke develops as a graphic variant in someWestern Greek alphabets (writingrho as), but it was not adopted in mostOld Italic alphabets; most Old Italic alphabets show variants of theirrho between a⟨P⟩ and a⟨D⟩ shape, but without the Western Greek descending stroke.Indeed, the oldest known forms of the Latin alphabet itself of the 7th to 6th centuries BC, in theDuenos and theForum inscription, still write⟨r⟩ using the⟨P⟩ shape of the letter.TheLapis Satricanus inscription shows the form of the Latin alphabet around 500 BC. Here, the rounded, closing Π shape of the⟨p⟩ and the⟨Ρ⟩ shape of the⟨r⟩ have become difficult to distinguish.The descending stroke of the Latin letter⟨R⟩ has fully developed by the 3rd century BC, as seen in theTomb of the Scipios sarcophagus inscriptions of that era. Fromc. 50 AD, the letter⟨P⟩ would be written with its loop fully closed, assuming the shape formerly taken by⟨R⟩.
18th-century example of use ofr rotunda in English blackletter typographyLetter⟨R⟩ from the alphabet byLuca Pacioli, inDe divina proportione (1509)
The minuscule form⟨r⟩ developed through several variations on the capital form.Along with Latin minuscule writing in general, it developed ultimately fromRoman cursive via theuncial script of Late Antiquity into theCarolingian minuscule of the 9th century.
In handwriting, it was common not to close the bottom of the loop but continue into the leg, saving an extra pen stroke. The loop-leg stroke shortened into the simple arc used in the Carolingian minuscule and until today.
A calligraphic minuscule⟨r⟩, known asr rotunda⟨ꝛ⟩, was used in the sequence⟨or⟩, bending the shape of the⟨r⟩ to accommodate the bulge of the⟨o⟩ as in⟨oꝛ⟩, as opposed to⟨or⟩. Later, the same variant was also used where⟨r⟩ followed other lower case letters with a rounded loop towards the right, such as with⟨b⟩,⟨h⟩,⟨p⟩, as well as to write the geminate⟨rr⟩ as⟨ꝛꝛ⟩. Use ofr rotunda was mostly tied toblackletter typefaces, and the glyph fell out of use along with blackletter fonts in English language contexts mostly by the 18th century.
Insular script used a minuscule which retained two downward strokes, but which did not close the loop, known as theInsular r⟨ꞃ⟩; this variant survives in theGaelic type popular in Ireland until the mid-20th century, but has become largely limited to a decorative function.
Dutch in some Netherlandic dialects (in specific positions of words),Faroese,Sicilian andSwedish, especially when in weakly articulated positions, such asword-final
Norwegian aroundTromsø;Spanish used as an allophone of /r/ in some South American accents;Swedish especially in Central Swedish dialects, such as the dialect in/aroundStockholm;Hopi used before vowels, as inraana, "toad", from Spanish rana
Other languages may use the letter⟨r⟩ in their alphabets (or Latin transliteration schemes) to represent rhotic consonants different from the alveolar trill. InHaitian Creole, it represents a sound so weak that it is often written interchangeably with⟨w⟩, e.g. 'Kweyol' for 'Kreyol'.
BrazilianPortuguese has a great number of allophones of/ʁ/, such as[χ],[h],[ɦ],[x],[ɣ],[ɹ] and[r]. The latter three ones can be used only in certain contexts ([ɣ] and[r] as⟨rr⟩;[ɹ] in the syllable coda, as an allophone of/ɾ/ according to the European Portuguese norm and/ʁ/ according to the Brazilian Portuguese norm). Usually at least two of them are present in a single dialect, such asRio de Janeiro's[ʁ],[χ],[ɦ] and, for a few speakers,[ɣ].
