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Voiced retroflex approximant
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<h2 id="features">Features</h2> <p>Features of the voiced retroflex approximant: </p> <ul><li>Its <a href="/facts/Manner_of_articulation/HxyCqDQC">manner of articulation</a> is <a href="/facts/Approximant/SXrlw7zY">approximant</a>, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a <a href="/facts/Turbulence/NpgFUhG5">turbulent airstream</a>.</li> <li>Its <a href="/facts/Place_of_articulation/exCzaxeF">place of articulation</a> is <a href="/facts/Retroflex_consonant/lsBdJD4V">retroflex</a>, which prototypically means it is articulated <a href="/facts/Subapical_consonant/0QJc2Fys">subapical</a> (with the tip of the tongue curled up), but more generally, it means that it is <a href="/facts/Postalveolar_consonant/YUo5nJly">postalveolar</a> without being <a href="/facts/Palatalization_(phonetics)/LXAIp4TB">palatalized</a>. That is, besides the prototypical subapical articulation, the tongue can be <a href="/facts/Apical_consonant/L7691gMF">apical</a> (pointed) or, in some fricatives, <a href="/facts/Laminal_consonant/EVA0SWmd">laminal</a> (flat).</li> <li>Its <a href="/facts/Phonation/u2IGLdgG">phonation</a> is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.</li> <li>It is an <a href="/facts/Oral_consonant/feM4cful">oral consonant</a>, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.</li> <li>It is a <a href="/facts/Central_consonant/YLATXvJW">central consonant</a>, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.</li> <li>Its <a href="/facts/Airstream_mechanism/qooe2ESC">airstream mechanism</a> is <a href="/facts/Pulmonic_egressive/BICa0WA0">pulmonic</a>, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the <a href="/facts/Intercostal_muscle/SFCkv3vD">intercostal muscles</a> and <a href="/facts/Abdominal_muscles/HcTzDFL0">abdominal muscles</a>, as in most sounds.</li></ul> <h2 id="occurrence">Occurrence</h2> <table><tbody><tr><th>Family</th><th colspan="2">Language</th><th>Word</th><th><a href="/facts/International_Phonetic_Alphabet/2e7jmUaG">IPA</a></th><th>Meaning</th><th>Notes</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Sinitic_languages/8IYLTAT2">Sinitic</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Chinese_language/771ruUY1">Chinese</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Mandarin_Chinese/yxvDg67C">Mandarin</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Chinese_characters/5pn1PFvj">日光</a> <i><a href="/facts/Pinyin/pUwjfMXg">rìguāng</a></i></td><td>[ɻ̺͢ɻ̺̞̍˥˩ku̯ɑ͢ŋ˥]</td><td>'sunlight'</td><td>Apical.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> As an initial in free variation between fricative and approximant, but never has friction as strong as a true fricative (Chinese "fully muddy"/全浊-class) to trigger a (free or conditional) devoicing or postvoicing into /ʐ̥ʱ/, nor weak enough to become an apical vowel. As a rime it is an apical vowel that is frequently coarticulated with a close near-back unrounded vowel /ɨ̟/ (thus phonetically [ɻ̺͢ɨ̟͡ɻ̺̞̍˥˩ku̯ɑ͢ŋ˥], but this phonetic representation should be avoided as the tie-bar for coarticulation may be misunderstood as a sliding into an <a href="/facts/Erhua/JSh1jF58">erhua</a> <a href="/facts/Rhotic_vowel/PFFBxN9Q">rhotic vowel</a>, a phonemically distinct syllable in Chinese), but it can be prolonged indefinitely and never truly developed into an /ɨ̟/. Both the consonant and the vowel may gain some friction especially when prolonged to force a more "distinct/clear" effect in teaching or when swearing, and thus it may be inaccurately transcribed as fricative [<a href="/facts/Voiced_retroflex_fricative/tfM7yN3u">ʐ</a>] both as initial and as rime (when precision is necessary, a true fricative in Wu Chinese may be transcribed as [ʐ̥ʱ], as that is how it is pronounced in the first syllable). See <a href="/facts/Standard_Chinese_phonology/Bl7Mr2RM">Standard Chinese phonology</a>.<p>The character 日 (<i>sun</i>), when pronounced with an overall strengthened friction (on both z and ɿ), may likely be understood as a profanity,[<i>which?</i>] thus pronouncing as an approximant is important; but the two do not form a minimal pair, because the profanity can also be pronounced with little friction (though in some other dialects they further evolved to form a minimal pair).</p></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Nungish_languages/3MX4YHPc">Nungish</a></td><td colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Derung_language/cWcr5DoI">Derung</a></td><td>Tvrung</td><td>[tə˧˩ɻuŋ˥˧]</td><td>'Derung'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3"><a href="/facts/Germanic_languages/BxAJX3Kf">Germanic</a></td><td rowspan="3"><a href="/facts/English_language/tpkxGt7b">English</a></td><td>Some <a href="/facts/American_English/sdAfgPgM">American</a> dialects</td><td rowspan="3"><a href="/facts/English_orthography/1Exe2W6G"><i>red</i></a></td><td rowspan="3">[ɻ(ʷ)ɛd]</td><td rowspan="3">'red'</td><td rowspan="3"><a href="/facts/Labialization/gxgAWAQI">Labialized</a> (pronounced with lips rounded). See <a href="/facts/Pronunciation_of_English_%2fr%2f/dcw103Xv">Pronunciation of English /r/</a></td></tr><tr><td>Some <a href="/facts/Hiberno-English/1RhpyNrx">Hiberno-English</a> dialects</td></tr><tr><td>Some <a href="/facts/West_Country_English/cf1WIkeE">West Country English</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Arnhem_languages/pwwlqQJj">Arnhem</a></td><td colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Enindhilyagwa_language/FPCmm3up">Enindhilyagwa</a></td><td><i>angwura</i></td><td>[aŋwuɻa]</td><td>'fire'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Germanic_languages/BxAJX3Kf">Germanic</a></td><td colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Faroese_language/1nf145FG">Faroese</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></td><td><i><a href="/facts/Faroese_orthography/u0ua704c">hoyrdi</a></i></td><td>[hɔiɻʈɛ]</td><td>'heard'</td><td>Allophone of /ɹ/.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> Sometimes voiceless [<a href="/facts/Voiced_retroflex_non-sibilant_fricative/tfM7yN3u">ɻ̊</a>].<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> See <a href="/facts/Faroese_phonology/Muq1mE7R">Faroese phonology</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Hellenic_languages/8968kKo7">Hellenic</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Greek_language/pzDd6eIz">Greek</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Cretan_Greek/xTwJslIz">Cretan</a> (<a href="/facts/Sfakia/CDDRVIC4">Sfakia</a> and <a href="/facts/Mylopotamos%2c_Crete/lYsVLa0e">Mylopotamos</a> variations) region<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></td><td><a href="/facts/Greek_alphabet/1cHwB8Dg">γάλα</a> <i><a href="/facts/Romanization_of_Greek/KTELT9Aq">gála</a></i></td><td>[ˈɣaɻa]</td><td>'milk'</td><td><a href="/facts/Intervocalic_consonant/GTFK4sfg">Intervocalic</a> allophone of /l/ before /a, o, u/. Recessive. See <a href="/facts/Modern_Greek_phonology/8YqswHuV">Modern Greek phonology</a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Eskimo-Aleut_languages/h8YnvLuY">Eskimo-Aleut</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Inuktitut/SFRWSNuq">Inuktitut</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Nattilingmiutut/uE4dWrRI">Nattilingmiutut</a></td><td><i>kiuřuq</i></td><td>/kiuɻuq/</td><td>'she replies'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Dravidian_languages/s8pMU64e">Dravidian</a></td><td colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Malayalam/YLuvDWd3">Malayalam</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Malayalam_alphabet/HDsBdkqw">ആഴം</a>/<a href="/facts/Arabi_Malayalam_script/fCQ8Tbs9">اٰژَمْ</a>/āḻam</td><td>[aːɻɐm]</td><td>'depth'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Mapudungun_languages/rVa7HYTa">Mapudungun</a></td><td colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Mapuche_language/kl1shd1z">Mapuche</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></td><td><i><a href="/facts/Mapudungun_alphabet/YcCkVc9P">rayen</a></i></td><td>[ɻɜˈjën]</td><td>'flower'</td><td>Possible realization of /ʐ/; may be [<a href="/facts/Voiced_retroflex_fricative/tfM7yN3u">ʐ</a>] or [<a href="/facts/Voiced_retroflex_lateral_approximant/LHNtHWAC">ɭ</a>] instead.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3"><a href="/facts/Romance_languages/TMK4KHI3">Romance</a></td><td rowspan="3"><a href="/facts/Portuguese_language/vr3Fwzw3">Portuguese</a></td><td>Many <a href="/facts/Centro-Sul/m5EgEWFu">Centro-Sul</a> registers</td><td><i><a href="/facts/Portuguese_orthography/B6H9WRGa">cartas</a></i></td><td>[ˈkaɻtə̥̆s]</td><td>'letters'</td><td rowspan="3">Allophone of rhotic consonants (and sometimes /l/) in the <a href="/facts/Syllable/Ylt7pyJe">syllable coda</a>. Mainly<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> found in rural <a href="/facts/S%25C3%25A3o_Paulo_(state)/GUFhhyBS">São Paulo</a>, <a href="/facts/Paran%25C3%25A1_(state)/gztCpNKP">Paraná</a>, south of <a href="/facts/Minas_Gerais/73LdwKnD">Minas Gerais</a> and surrounding areas, with the more common and <a href="/facts/Prestige_(sociolinguistics)/PCApCH33">prestigious</a> realization in metropolitan areas being [<a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_approximant/f1wQ41RI">ɹ</a>] and/or <a href="/facts/R-colored_vowel/PFFBxN9Q">rhotic vowel</a> instead. As with [<a href="/facts/Voiced_retroflex_flap/ClIesXP0">ɽ</a>], it appeared as a mutation of [ɾ].<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> See <a href="/facts/Portuguese_phonology/hu1DbLe8">Portuguese phonology</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Caipira_dialect/USuL4bf2">Caipira</a></td><td><i><a href="/facts/Portuguese_orthography/B6H9WRGa">temporal</a></i></td><td>[tẽɪ̯̃pʊˈɾaɻ]</td><td>'rainstorm'</td></tr><tr><td>Conservative <a href="/facts/Piracicaba/f3dUqDoW">Piracicabano</a></td><td><i><a href="/facts/Portuguese_orthography/B6H9WRGa">grato</a></i></td><td>[ˈgɻatʊ̥]</td><td>'thankful' (m.)</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Dravidian_languages/s8pMU64e">Dravidian</a></td><td colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Tamil_language/7I0lHL0d">Tamil</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a></td><td><a href="/facts/Tamil_script/QAEV8dJ5">தமிழ்</a>/Tamiḻ</td><td>[t̪əˈmɨɻ]ⓘ</td><td>'Tamil'</td><td>See <a href="/facts/Tamil_phonology/k02LcIw7">Tamil phonology</a>. May be merged with [<a href="/facts/Voiced_retroflex_lateral_approximant/LHNtHWAC">ɭ</a>] for some modern speakers.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Pama-Nyungan_languages/o934NJQT">Pama-Nyungan</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Western_Desert_language/aVpKdm9k">Western Desert</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Pitjantjatjara_dialect/DLaXDBWB">Pitjantjatjara dialect</a></td><td><i>Uluṟu</i></td><td>[ʊlʊɻʊ]</td><td>'<a href="/facts/Uluru/bzbCmMYX">Uluru</a>'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Language_isolate/229etAHg">Isolate</a></td><td colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Yaghan_language/VCDI63j4">Yaghan</a></td><td><i>wárho</i></td><td>[ˈwaɻo]</td><td>'cave'</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Alveolar_approximant/f1wQ41RI">Alveolar approximant</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Retroflex_consonant/lsBdJD4V">Retroflex consonant</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/R-colored_vowel/PFFBxN9Q">R-colored vowel</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Index_of_phonetics_articles/IwhbEHGN">Index of phonetics articles</a></li></ul> <h2 id="notes">Notes</h2> <ul><li>Árnason, Kristján (2011), <i>The Phonology of Icelandic and Faroese</i>, Oxford University Press, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-0-19-922931-4</li> <li>Keane, Elinor (2004), "Tamil", <i>Journal of the International Phonetic Association</i>, 34 (1): 111–116, <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100304001549">10.1017/S0025100304001549</a></li> <li>Sadowsky, Scott; Painequeo, Héctor; Salamanca, Gastón; Avelino, Heriberto (2013), "Mapudungun", <i>Journal of the International Phonetic Association</i>, 43 (1): 87–96, <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100312000369">10.1017/S0025100312000369</a></li> <li>Trudgill, Peter (1989), "The Sociophonetics of /l/ in the Greek of Sphakiá", <i>Journal of the International Phonetic Association</i>, 15 (2): 18–22, <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100300002942">10.1017/S0025100300002942</a>, <a href="/facts/S2CID_(identifier)/ldJsHa2Y">S2CID</a> <a href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:143943154">143943154</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://phoible.org/parameters?sSearch_0=%C9%BB">List of languages with [ɻ]</a> on <a href="/facts/PHOIBLE/2qqHhjzI">PHOIBLE</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Lee, Wai-Sum (1999). An articulatory and acoustical analysis of the syllable-initial sibilants and approximant in Beijing Mandarin (PDF). Proceedings of the 14th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences. S2CID 51828449. <a href="https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/icphs-proceedings/ICPhS1999/papers/p14_0413.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/icphs-proceedings/ICPhS1999/papers/p14_0413.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Árnason (2011), p. 115. - Árnason, Kristján (2011), The Phonology of Icelandic and Faroese, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-922931-4 <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Árnason (2011), p. 115. - Árnason, Kristján (2011), The Phonology of Icelandic and Faroese, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-922931-4 <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Árnason (2011), p. 115. - Árnason, Kristján (2011), The Phonology of Icelandic and Faroese, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-922931-4 <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Trudgill (1989), pp. 18–19. - Trudgill, Peter (1989), "The Sociophonetics of /l/ in the Greek of Sphakiá", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 15 (2): 18–22, doi:10.1017/S0025100300002942, S2CID 143943154 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100300002942" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100300002942</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Sadowsky et al. (2013), p. 90. - Sadowsky, Scott; Painequeo, Héctor; Salamanca, Gastón; Avelino, Heriberto (2013), "Mapudungun", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (1): 87–96, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000369 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100312000369" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100312000369</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Sadowsky et al. (2013), p. 90. - Sadowsky, Scott; Painequeo, Héctor; Salamanca, Gastón; Avelino, Heriberto (2013), "Mapudungun", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (1): 87–96, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000369 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100312000369" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100312000369</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Brandão, Silvia Figueiredo (15 December 2007). "Nas trilhas do -R retroflexo". Signum: Estudos da Linguagem. 10 (2): 265. doi:10.5433/2237-4876.2007v10n2p265. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5433%2F2237-4876.2007v10n2p265" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.5433%2F2237-4876.2007v10n2p265</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Ferraz, Irineu da Silva (2005). Características fonético-acústicas do /r/ retroflexo do portugues brasileiro : dados de informantes de Pato Branco (PR) (Thesis). hdl:1884/3955. <a href="https://acervodigital.ufpr.br/handle/1884/3955" target="_blank">https://acervodigital.ufpr.br/handle/1884/3955</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>(in Portuguese) Syllable coda /r/ in the "capital" of the paulista hinterland: sociolinguistic analisis. Archived 2013-09-26 at the Wayback Machine Cândida Mara Britto LEITE. Page 111 (page 2 in the attached PDF) <a href="http://cedae.iel.unicamp.br/revista/index.php/sinteses/article/download/1198/1766" target="_blank">http://cedae.iel.unicamp.br/revista/index.php/sinteses/article/download/1198/1766</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>(in Portuguese) Callou, Dinah. Leite, Yonne. "Iniciação à Fonética e à Fonologia". Jorge Zahar Editora 2001, p. 24 <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Keane (2004), p. 111. - Keane, Elinor (2004), "Tamil", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (1): 111–116, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001549 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100304001549" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0025100304001549</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>