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 , 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.
Features
Features of the voiced retroflex approximant:
Occurrence Language Word IPA Meaning Notes Chinese Mandarin [ɻ̺oʊ̯˥˩] 'meat' Apical. Can be transcribed as fricative . See Standard Chinese phonology Derung Tvrung [tə˧˩ɻuŋ˥˧] 'Derung' English Some American dialects red 'red' Labialized (pronounced with lips rounded). See Pronunciation of English /r/ Some Hiberno-English dialects Some West Country EnglishArnhem Enindhilyagwa 'fire' Faroese 'heard' Allophone of . Sometimes voiceless . See Faroese phonology Greek Cretan (Sfakia and Mylopotamos variations) region 'milk' Intervocalic allophone of before . Recessive. See Modern Greek phonology Inuktitut Nattilingmiutut 'she replies' Malayalam /āḻam 'depth' Represented by the letter ⟨ഴ⟩. Subapical retroflex. See Malayalam phonology Mapuche 'flower' Possible realization of ; may be or instead. Lolak Ḷoḷak 'Lolak' Allophone of ; usually found adjacent to vowels such as , or . Portuguese Many Centro-Sul registers 'letters' Allophone of rhotic consonants (and sometimes ) 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 and/or rhotic vowel instead. As with , it appeared as a mutation of . Syllable coda /r/ in the "capital" of the paulista hinterland: sociolinguistic analysis. Cândida Mara Britto LEITE. Page 111 (page 2 in the attached PDF) Callou, Dinah. Leite, Yonne. "Iniciação à Fonética e à Fonologia". Jorge Zahar Editora 2001, p. 24 See Portuguese phonology. Caipira 'rainstorm' Conservative Piracicabano 'thankful' (m.) Tamil /Tamiḻ 'Tamil' See Tamil phonology. May be merged with for some modern speakers. Western Desert Pitjantjatjara dialect 'Uluru' Yaghan 'cave'
See also Alveolar approximant Retroflex consonant R-colored vowel Index of phonetics articles
Notes
References
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