Alveolar approximant

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IPA – number	151
IPA – text	ɹ
IPA – image
Entity	ɹ
X-SAMPA	r\
Kirshenbaum	r
Sound sample (help·info)

The alveolar approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents alveolar and postalveolar approximants is ɹ, a lowercase letter r rotated 180 degrees; the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r\.

Some phonemic transcriptions use the <r> symbol instead of <ɹ> for ease of typesetting, even though that former symbol technically represents the alveolar trill.

Contents 1 Features 2 Occurrence 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References

[edit] Features

Features of the alveolar approximant:

• Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by bringing one articulator close to another but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced.
• Its place of articulation is alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
• Its phonation type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.
• It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth.
• It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the tongue, rather than the sides.
• The airstream mechanism is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lungs and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis or the mouth.

[edit] Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Armenian	Eastern	սուրճ	[suɹtʃʰ]	'coffee'
Chukchi		ңирэк	[ŋiɹek]	'two'
Dutch		werk	[ʋɛɹk]	'work'	Some dialects. Most dialects use an alveolar trill. See Dutch phonology
English	American dialects[1]	red	[ɹ̠ˤʷɛd]	'red'	Often retracted and labialized. May also be a labialized retroflex approximant or an alveolar trill. See English phonology
Faroese		róður	[ɹɔuwʊɹ]	'rudder'
German		Rebe	[ɹeːbə]	'vine shoot'	Some dialects. Most dialects use a uvular trill. See German phonology
Brazilian Portuguese	Caipira	porta	[ˈpɔɹta]	'door'	See Portuguese phonology
	Paulistano
Spanish	Some dialects[2]	doscientos	[do̞ɹˈθje̞nto̞s]	'two hundred'	Allophone of /s/ in the syllable coda.
Vietnamese		rơ	[ɹɤ]	'to clean'	See Vietnamese phonology
Zapotec	Tilquiapan[3]	rdɨ	[ɹd̪ɨ]	'pass'	Allophone of /ɾ/ before any consonant

[edit] See also

• Alveolar lateral approximant
• Velarized alveolar approximant
• List of phonetic topics

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Boyce, S.; Espy-Wilson, C. (1997), "Coarticulatory stability in American English /r/", Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 101: 3741-3753 
• Browman, L.; Goldstein (1995), "Gestural syllable position in American English", in Bell-Berti, F., Producing Speech: Contemporary issues for K Harris, New York: AIP, pp. 9–33 
• Delattre, P.; Freeman, D.C. (1968), "A dialect study of American R's by x-ray motion picture", Linguistics 44: 29-68 
• Fougeron, C (1999), "Prosodically conditioned articulatory variation: A Review", UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics, 97, pp. 1–73 
• Hallé, Pierre A.; Best, Catherine T.; Levitt; Andrea (1999), "Phonetic vs. phonological influences on French listeners' perception of American English approximants", Journal of Phonetics 27: 281-306 
• Merrill, Elizabeth (2008), "Tilquipan Zapotec", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 38 (1): 107-114 
• Recasens, Daniel (2004), "The effect of syllable position on consonant reduction (evidence fromCatalan consonant clusters)", Journal of Phonetics 32: 435–453, doi:10.1016/j.wocn.2004.02.001 
• Zawadski, P.A.; Kuehn, D.P. (1980), "A cineradiographic study of static and dynamic aspects of American English /r/", Phonetica 37: 253-266 

v • d • e Consonants List · Table Pulmonics Bila​bial Labio​d. Den​tal Alv. Post. Retro​fl. Pal​a​tal Ve​lar Uvu​lar Pha​ryn. Epi​glot​t. Glot​tal Non-pulmonics and other symbols [edit • talk] Nasals m ɱ n̪ n ɳ ɲ ŋ ɴ  Clicks  ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ Plosives p b p̪ b̪ t̪ d̪ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ  Impl.  ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ Fricatives ɸ β f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ ʜ ʢ h ɦ  Eject.  pʼ tʼ kʼ qʼ sʼ Approxim. ʋ ɹ ɻ j ɰ  Affr.  p̪͡f t͡s d͡z t͡ʃ d͡ʒ t͡ɕ d͡ʑ ʈ͡ʂ ɖ͡ʐ t͡ɬ d͡ɮ Trills ʙ r • ʀ • Other laterals  ɺ • ɫ Flaps / taps ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ ɽ • • Co-art. fricatives  ɕ ʑ ɧ Lateral Fric. ɬ ɮ • • • Co-art. approxim.  ʍ w ɥ Lateral Appr. l ɭ ʎ ʟ Co-articulated stops  k͡p ɡ͡b ŋ͡m This table contains phonetic information in IPA, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help] Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a voiced consonant. Shaded areas denote pulmonic articulations judged to be impossible. See also IPA · Vowels

v • d • e The Letter "R" General The letter R · Rhotic consonants (R-like sounds) · Rhotic and non-rhotic accents · R-colored vowels · Guttural R · Linking and intrusive R Pronunciations Alveolar trill [r] · Alveolar approximant [ɹ] · Alveolar tap [ɾ] · Alveolar lateral flap [ɺ] · Retroflex approximant [ɻ] · Retroflex flap [ɽ] · Uvular trill [ʀ] · Voiced uvular fricative [ʁ] Variations R rotunda · Ɍɍ (R with stroke) · Ʀʀ · Ȑȑ · Ŕŕ · Ŗŗ · Řř · Ȓȓ · Ṙṙ · Ṛṛ · Ṝṝ · Ṟṟ · Rd · Rh · Rl · Rn · Rr · Rt · Rnd · ᚱ (Raidô) · ℛ (Riemann integral) · ℜ (Real part) · ℝ (Real number) · ® (Registered trademark symbol) · Ⓡ (Enclosed R)