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Comment by gehwartzen | Hacker News Reader

My understanding is that cats purr both as an expression of happiness (like when petted) but also when sick, presumably for self comfort.

Both of my cats without fail will gravitate towards me or my gf when we are sick and sit on our chests and purr. it's very sweet.

I can produce a purring sounds in the very back of my throat but my gf can't no matter how much she tries/practices. I speak German natively and the purr is very similar to the sound of the letter "r" which I guess a lot of English speakers have trouble with.

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Everyone should be able to roll their r's, but many people have a disconnect because they think it is done by moving their tongue and that misunderstanding prevents them from figuring it out.

It's done by cupping your tongue to the roof of your mouth and blowing air through the cup, the pressure builds up and then suddenly releases, and if done correctly it will vibrate and make a purring, rolling r sound.

The sides of your tongue abut your teeth on the sides and stay firm, but the tip only gets a little pressure to return to the roof of your mouth.

Thats how people have always explained making the rolling R sound for Spanish to me which is different from a rolling R sound in German. I was never able to make the Spanish r sound when I took it high school.

In the "guttural R" used in German the sound is made in the back of the throat without the need to press ones tongue against the roof of the mouth; just the base/root of the tongue against the uvular.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guttural_R

This video explains it well with really fascinating videos clips showing a cross section of the mouth live while speaking. The whole thing is interesting but the main difference is shown at 3:30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRKvpqOEbvU

Another trick for practicing rolling Rs is to replace the r in a word with a d. This works best if the R follows another consonant. So when practicing to roll your R don't say "bread" but try saying "bdead". If you manage to make that bd fast enough it'll turn into a sort of tongue slap that's a single "roll". From there it's simply a matter of practice until you can roll as long as you like.

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