Quote Originally Posted by Marcus View Post
Thank you. I can't imagine a laminal trill. Have you ever heard Russian? What was your impression about this issue?
As I pointed out before, I'm not a native speaker of Russian and therefore I chose to look it up, as I don't have any authority to comment on such issue without consulting any academic research. But yes, I have heard Russian before, plenty of times. Personally, I think the alveolar trill in Russian is quite distinct, although it is easier for me recognize a Spanish alveolar trill, but that's because I speak Spanish at a near-fluent level, while my experience and exposure to Russian is minimal, to say the least. I'm able to pronounce both the lamino-alveolar trill and the apico-alveolar trill - and I can say that the difference is subtle. A Russian learning Spanish would be able to use the Russian alveolar trill and easily be understood - but of course, throwing in an extra flap (remember Spanish had approximately 2-3 flaps, while Russian had 1-2 flaps) would probably help getting rid of an accent.

You say it's hard for you to imagine a laminal trill. You could listen to the video in the top of this thread where the Spanish lamino-alveolar trill is pronounced. Or you could also try to listen to this song (and the lyrics you find here) by the artist Salvatore Adamo, in which he is very articulate so that it is very easy to both hear the flaps and the trills. Notice for instance the trill at 00:46. The song is quite nice itself too, so enjoy.