Retroflex approximant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Retroflex approximant | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɻ | |||
|
|||
| IPA number | 152 | ||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ɻ |
||
| Unicode (hex) | U+027B | ||
| X-SAMPA | r\` |
||
| Kirshenbaum | r. |
||
| Sound | |||
|
|
|||
The retroflex approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɻ ⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r\`. The IPA symbol is a turned lowercase letter r with a rightward hook protruding from the lower right of the letter.
Contents |
[edit] Features
Features of the 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 sub-apical - 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 sub-apical articulation, the tongue contact can be apical (pointed) or laminal (flat).
- Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
- It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
- It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
- The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.
[edit] Occurrence
The retroflex approximant occurs in many languages of India and Australia. Elsewhere it is rare, though it occurs in three languages with a very large number of speakers, English, Mandarin and (as an allophone of /ʁ/ across some Brazilian dialects) Portuguese.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrernte | [example needed] | ||||
| Chinese | Mandarin | 肉/ròu | [ɻou̯˥˩] | 'meat' | May also be a voiced retroflex fricative ([ʐ]). See Mandarin phonology |
| English | American dialects | red | [ɻʷɛd] | 'red' | See English phonology |
| Enindhilyagwa | angwura | [aŋwuɻa] | 'fire' | ||
| Malayalam | വഴി | [ʋɐɻi] | 'way' | ||
| Mapuche | rúka | [ˈɻuka] | 'house' | ||
| Pitjantjatjara | Uluṟu | [ʊlʊɻʊ] | 'Uluru' | ||
| Portuguese | Some South-Central Brazilian dialects |
porta | [ˈpɔɻ.tɐ] | 'door' | Stereotyped as mostly rural, or caipira, but found throughout Center-Western states, northern Paraná and in many speakers by São Paulo's urban areas such as the megalopolis as well. Allophone of syllable-ending Guttural R in standard Brazilian Portuguese. See Portuguese phonology |
| Tamil[1] | வழி | [ʋɐɻi] | 'way ' | See Tamil phonology | |
| Yaghan | wárho | [ˈwaɻo] | 'cave' | ||
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Keane (2004:111)
[edit] Bibliography
- Keane, Elinor (2004), "Tamil", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 111–116
|
|||||||||||