Voiced retroflex approximant
Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ɻ⟩ in IPA
A voiced retroflex approximant is a type of consonant used in some languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɻ⟩, a turned lowercase letter r with a rightward hook protruding from the lower right of the letter.
The velar bunched approximant found in some varieties of Dutch and American English is nearly indistinguishable from a retroflex approximant in sound, but has a different articulation.
01Features
Features of the voiced retroflex approximant:
- Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream.
- Its place of articulation is retroflex, which prototypically means it is articulated subapical (with the tip of the tongue curled up), but more generally, it means that it is postalveolar without being palatalized. That is, besides the prototypical subapical articulation, the tongue can be apical (pointed) or, in some fricatives, laminal (flat).
- Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
- It is an oral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
- It is a median consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream down the midline of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
- Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most speech sounds.
02Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | Mandarin | 肉 ròu | [ɻ̺oʊ̯˥˩] | 'meat' | Apical. Can be transcribed as fricative [ʐ]. See Standard Chinese phonology | |
| Derung | Tvrung | [tə˧˩ɻuŋ˥˧] | 'Derung' | |||
| English | Some American dialects | red | [ɻ(ʷ)ɛd] | 'red' | Labialized (pronounced with lips rounded). See Pronunciation of English /r/ | |
| Some Hiberno-English dialects | ||||||
| Some West Country English | ||||||
| Arnhem | Enindhilyagwa | angwura | [aŋwuɻa] | 'fire' | ||
| Faroese | hoyrdi | [hɔiɻʈɛ] | 'heard' | Allophone of /ɹ/. Sometimes voiceless [ɻ̊]. See Faroese phonology | ||
| Greek | Cretan (Sfakia and Mylopotamos variations) region | γάλα gála | [ˈɣaɻa] | 'milk' | Intervocalic allophone of /l/ before /a, o, u/. Recessive. See Modern Greek phonology | |
| Inuktitut | Nattilingmiutut | kiuřuq | /kiuɻuq/ | 'she replies' | ||
| Malayalam | ആഴം/āḻam | [aːɻɐm] | 'depth' | Represented by the letter ⟨ഴ⟩. Subapical retroflex. See Malayalam phonology | ||
| Mapuche | rayen | [ɻɜˈjën] | 'flower' | Possible realization of /ʐ/; may be [ʐ] or [ɭ] instead. | ||
| Lolak | Ḷoḷak | [ˈɻo.ɻak̚] | 'Lolak' | Allophone of /l/; usually found adjacent to vowels such as [a], [ɔ] or [u]. | ||
| Portuguese | Many Centro-Sul registers | cartas | [ˈkaɻtə̥̆s] | 'letters' | Allophone of rhotic consonants (and sometimes /l/) in the syllable coda. Mainly found in rural São Paulo, Paraná, south of Minas Gerais and surrounding areas, with the more common and prestigious realization in metropolitan areas being [ɹ] and/or rhotic vowel instead. As with [ɽ], it appeared as a mutation of [ɾ]. See Portuguese phonology. | |
| Caipira | temporal | [tẽɪ̯̃pʊˈɾaɻ] | 'rainstorm' | |||
| Conservative Piracicabano | grato | [ˈgɻatʊ̥] | 'thankful' (m.) | |||
| Tamil | தமிழ்/Tamiḻ | [t̪əˈmɨɻ]ⓘ | 'Tamil' | See Tamil phonology. May be merged with [ɭ] for some modern speakers. | ||
| Western Desert | Pitjantjatjara dialect | Uluṟu | [ʊlʊɻʊ] | 'Uluru' | ||
| Yaghan | wárho | [ˈwaɻo] | 'cave' | |||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Voiced retroflex approximant”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- IPA Unicode 0x027B.svg by No machine-readable author provided. Martin Kozák assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain
- Voiced retroflex approximant.svg by Tavin, Nardog, CC BY-SA 4.0
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