The letter Rr is the 18th letter of the English alphabet.
Rr is the eighth most common letter in English and the fourth most common consonant.
This letter started out being drawn as a head by the Egyptians. Many years later, the Greeks used the letter as a P; and in Latin, it became an R. All those years ago, as the English alphabet was being developed by the ancient people, all the letters took time to change shape. Back then, not many people could read or write as we do today. Some of the people could draw, so they drew these pictures.
The oldest known forms of the Latin alphabet during the 7th to 6th centuries BC (that is Before Christ was born) the scribes still wrote r using the "P" shape of the letter.
To begin with, many people spoke in a very different way to the way we speak to day. The letters had a different sound as in the letter Rr, the people would say “err” but the sound eventually became “arr” as in farm.
The way the letter was pronounced in Latin, R sounds like a growling dog. The Spanish word for dog – perro – describes the sound perfectly.
Today, the sound of the letter is the same in English and American English, but the spelling is different as in “center” and “centre.”
The letter “R” today is used for something special. It is an R in a circle. This letter is then called a symbol. The R in a circle is used as the registered trademark symbol ®
The letter Rr is in almost every sentence you write. Can you make a sentence that does not have an Rr in it? “The fat dog jumped onto the bed” is a simple sentence; but can you make a more complex sentence without using the letter Rr? Try to give directions without using the letter Rr! Through, over, around, under – all have the r in them.
Proper nouns and common nouns have Rr in them. Let’s try some Proper nouns: Names of people and places. Let’s start with some words that begin with R (if a word is a proper noun and begins with R, the letter will be written as a capital!
Places/Cities, Towns/Countries/Rivers:
Rome, Rondebosch, Richmond, Rosehall, Regent’s Park, Romania, Rock River, Rio Grande River, Rochester.
People:
Rosemary, Rosalie, Ruby, Rebecca, Rene, Regina, Rachael, Richard, Raymond, Rupert, Robert, Randy, Roger, Roy, Riley, Ryan, Ratcliff, Ronnie, Rueben.
Some of the names can be for boys or girls. There are so many names for people that begin with R! Can you think of more?
Animals/Birds/Snakes/Fish:
Rhinoceros, Rat, Rabbit, Racoon, Reindeer, Rattlesnake, Robin, Raven, Rhea, Ray.
Christmas is fast approaching and some of the most well-known animals that have something to do with Christmas are the Reindeer that fly pulling Father Christmas’ sleigh filled with toys for all good girls and boys. “Reindeer” happens to begin with the letter R and to end with the letter r – it is an important animal!
Reindeer: Known as the caribou in North America, Reindeer are members of the deer family. Reindeer are large mammals found in Arctic and subarctic regions in Europe, Asia and North America.
Male and female reindeer grow antlers; the female is the only female deer to grow antlers.
The male reindeer’s antlers grow to be the second-largest antlers of any deer – the moose are the only deer whose antlers grow bigger than the reindeer’s.
Reindeer are able to see ultraviolet light; this helps them find food and notice if there are predators out to catch and eat them in the snowy Arctic environment. The reindeer (caribou) live in a land called Tundra, this land is always freezing cold; the soil is hard and nothing much can grow in it. In summer months, Reindeer graze on grasses, herbs, ferns and mosses. In winter, they paw through the snow with their hooves and antlers to find the lichen and fungi buried underneath. The land they live in has lots of pine tree forests (Christmas trees) – imagine living year-round in a country that looks like Christmas! Reindeer have thick, multi-layered fur coats to keep them warm and protect them from the icy winds and freezing water when they swim across rivers.
Some families and groups of people hold traditional fun activities near Christmastime each year called “Reindeer Games.”
