Editing R (section)

== Name ==
The name of the letter in Latin was {{lang|la|er}} ({{IPA|/ɛr/}}), following the pattern of other letters representing [[continuant]]s, such as {{angbr|F}}, {{angbr|L}}, {{angbr|M}}, {{angbr|N}}, and {{angbr|S}}.  This name is preserved in [[French language|French]] and many other languages. In [[Middle English]], the name of the letter changed from {{IPA|/ɛr/}} to {{IPA|/ar/}}, following a pattern exhibited in many other words such as ''farm'' (compare French {{lang|fr|ferme}}) and ''star'' (compare German {{lang|de|Stern}}).

In [[Hiberno-English]], the letter is called {{IPA|/ɒr/|}} or {{IPA|/ɔːr/|}}, somewhat similar to ''oar'', ''ore'', ''orr''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digilib.k.utb.cz/bitstream/handle/10563/9938/kr%C3%B6merov%C3%A1_2009_bp.pdf?sequence=1|title=Analysis of selected contemporary Irish dialects|website=Digilib.k.utb.cz|access-date=7 November 2017|archive-date=15 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915204156/http://digilib.k.utb.cz/bitstream/handle/10563/9938/kr%C3%B6merov%C3%A1_2009_bp.pdf?sequence=1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/this-happened-to-me/losing-my-voice-ef97a0c5e977|title=Losing My Voice - This Happened to Me|first=Steve|last=Hogarty|date=November 11, 2013|website=Medium|access-date=July 15, 2019|archive-date=July 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715114609/https://medium.com/this-happened-to-me/losing-my-voice-ef97a0c5e977|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://irishwithian.wordpress.com/2018/12/19/mind-your-ps-and-qs-ore-youll-get-into-trouble/|title=Mind your 'P's and 'Q's – ore you'll get into trouble!|newspaper=Irish with Ian |date=December 19, 2018|access-date=July 15, 2019|archive-date=July 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715114607/https://irishwithian.wordpress.com/2018/12/19/mind-your-ps-and-qs-ore-youll-get-into-trouble/|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{anchor|Dog's letter}}
The letter R is sometimes referred to as the {{lang|la|littera canīna}} 'canine letter', often rendered in English as the '''dog's letter'''. This Latin term referred to the Latin {{angbr|R}} that was [[Trill consonant|trilled]] to sound like a growling dog, a spoken style referred to as {{lang|la|vōx canīna}} 'dog voice' (e.g. in Spanish {{lang|es|perro}} 'dog').<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wordsmith.org/words/dogs_letter.html |title=A Word A Day: Dog's letter |website=Wordsmith.org |access-date=2012-01-17 |archive-date=2012-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314054240/http://www.wordsmith.org/words/dogs_letter.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In ''[[Romeo 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 in [[Ben Jonson]]'s ''English Grammar''.<ref>{{cite book
  | last = Shakespeare
  | first = William
  |author2=Horace Howard Furness |author3=Frederick Williams
   | title = Romeo and Juliet
  | publisher = Lippincott
  | year = 1913
  | page = [https://archive.org/details/romeoandjuliet02furngoog/page/n218 189]
  | isbn = 9780140620931
 | url = https://archive.org/details/romeoandjuliet02furngoog
  }}</ref>