rhotacism

The story

1. Ancient Greek · derived from*ῥωτακισμός
2. New Latin · borrowed fromrhōtacismus
3. English todayrhotacism

From New Latin rhōtacismus, from Ancient Greek *ῥωτακισμός (*rhōtakismós), from ῥωτακίζω (rhōtakízō, “to incorrectly use rho”), from ῥῶ (rhô, “rho (the Greek equivalent of r)”) in analogy with ἰωτακίζω (iōtakízō, “to incorrectly use iota”); itself from ἰῶτα (iôta) in analogy with ἀττικίζω (attikízō, “talk like an Athenian”). By surface analysis, rho + -tacism.