Abstract

This paper, examines the correlation between two social variables, gender and class, with the Arabic trilled /r/. Upper class females use the approximant variant [®] for medial geminate [r:]'s. They also vary between the approximant [®] and the tap [R] for final geminate and singleton [r]'s. Males and females from other social classes use the trill [r] instead. [R] appears in the speech of all male and female classes in initial and medial singletons. The social prestige norms better explain why women change [r] into [R] or [®] and how this change reflects their 'feminine characteristics' as part of their social class ambitions.