Where did the voiced uvular fricative come from, and how did it spread throughout Europe?
It may be difficult to know exactly where the voiced uvular fricative originated as geopolitical boundaries changed constantly, but as French is perhaps particularly known among the European languages for using the uvular trill pronunciation, I would say it originated somewhere in France. The source I got seems to support this. “In Western Europe, a uvular trill pronunciation of rhotic consonants spread from northern French to several dialects and registers of Danish, Dutch, German, Hebrew, Norwegian, Portuguese, and Swedish. However, not all of these remain a uvular trill today.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_uvular_fricative The usage probably spread the same way languages change today, that is, by way of cultural, educational and commercial exchange.
