history - Why and when was the trilled R in middle English replaced by the modern untrilled one?


Most linguists agree that the letter R in middle English was trilled, but why and when did people replace it with untrilled one like ⟨ɹ⟩ in "red", or even become "almost" silent like in "her (British accent)"? Also, why is modern R rounded? For example, rain and "rwain" are pronounced the same, proving that modern R actually has an invisible w after it.




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