Voiced uvular trill

Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ʀ⟩ in IPA
Voiced uvular trill
ʀ
IPA Number123
Audio sample
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Encoding
Entity (decimal)ʀ
Unicode (hex)U+0280
X-SAMPAR\
Braille⠔ (braille pattern dots-35)⠗ (braille pattern dots-1235)
Image
Voiced uvular fricative trill
ʀ̝

The voiced uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ʀ⟩, a small capital version of the Latin letter r. This consonant is one of several collectively called guttural R.

Features

Features of the voiced uvular trill:

  • Its manner of articulation is trill, which means it is produced by directing air over an articulator so that it vibrates. Unlike in tongue-tip trills, it is the uvula, not the tongue, that vibrates.[1]
  • Its place of articulation is uvular, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the uvula.
  • 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 intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

Distribution of guttural r (such as [ʁ ʀ χ]) in Europe in the mid-20th century.[2]
  not usual
  only in some educated speech
  usual in educated speech
  general

There are two main theories regarding the origination of the uvular trill in European languages. According to one theory, the uvular trill originated in Standard French around the 17th century and spread to the standard varieties of German, Danish, Portuguese, and some of those of Dutch, Norwegian and Swedish. It is also present in other areas of Europe, but it is not clear if such pronunciations are due to French influence.[3] In most cases, varieties have shifted the sound to a voiced uvular fricative [ʁ] or a voiced uvular approximant [ʁ̞].

The other main theory is that the uvular R originated within Germanic languages by the weakening of the alveolar R, which was replaced by an imitation of the alveolar R (vocalisation).[4] Against the "French origin" theory, it is said that there are many signs that the uvular R existed in some German dialects long before the 17th century.[4]

Apart from modern Europe, uvular R also exists in Modern Hebrew.

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Afrikaans Parts of the former Cape Province[5] rooi [ʀoːi̯] 'red' May be a fricative [ʁ] instead.[5] See Afrikaans phonology
Arabic North Mesopotamian قمر [ˈqʌmʌʀ] 'moon' Corresponds to [r, ɾ] in most other varieties. See Arabic phonology
Breton Kerneveg bro [bʀoː] 'country' Corresponds to [r~ʁ] in standard Breton. See Breton phonology
Catalan Some northern dialects[6] córrer [koˈʀe] 'to run' See Catalan phonology
Dutch[7][8][9][10] Belgian Limburg[11][12] rood [ʀoːt]ⓘ 'red' More commonly a flap.[13] Uvular pronunciations appear to be gaining ground in the Randstad.[14] Realization of /r/ varies considerably among dialects. See Dutch phonology
Central Netherlands[15]
Randstad[15]
Southern Netherlands[15]
Flemish Brabant[12] More commonly a flap.[13] It is one of the least common realizations of /r/ in these areas.[16] See Dutch phonology
Northern Netherlands[15]
West Flanders[12]
English Cape Flats[17] red [ʀɛd] 'red' Possible realization of /r/; may be [ɹ ~ ɹ̝ ~ ɾ ~ r] instead.[17] See South African English phonology
Northumbrian dialect[18] More often a fricative.[18] Dialectal "Northumbrian Burr", mostly found in eastern Northumberland, declining. See English phonology
Sierra Leonean[18] More often a fricative.[18]
French[19] rendez-vous [ʀɑ̃devu]ⓘ 'rendezvous', 'appointment' Dialectal. More commonly an approximant or a fricative [ʁ]. See French phonology
German Standard[20] rot [ʀoːt]ⓘ 'red' In free variation with a voiced uvular fricative and approximant. Can be realized as voiceless after voiceless consonants. See Standard German phonology
Hebrew ירוק [jaˈʀok] 'green' May also be a fricative or approximant. See Modern Hebrew phonology
Italian[1] Some speakers[21] raro [ˈʀäːʀo] 'rare' Rendition alternative to the standard Italian alveolar trill [r], due to individual orthoepic defects and/or regional variations that make the alternative sound more prevalent, notably in South Tyrol (bordering with German-speaking Austria), Aosta Valley (bordering with France) and in parts of the Parma province, more markedly around Fidenza. Other alternative sounds may be a voiced uvular fricative [ʁ] or a labiodental approximant [ʋ].[21] See Italian phonology.
Japreria peŕo [peʀo] 'dog'[22] Contrasts with flap [ɾ], represented orthographically by ŕ.
Judaeo-Spanish mujer [muˈʒɛʀ] 'woman', 'wife'
Low Saxon Zwols[23][24] priezen/prysen [pʀi:zn̩] 'prices' Only in the city and its immediate surroundings, not in the area surrounding Zwolle.
Luxembourgish[25] Rou [ʀəʊ̯] 'silence' Prevocalic allophone of /ʀ/.[26] See Luxembourgish phonology
Occitan Eastern garric [ɡaʀi] 'oak' Contrasts with alveolar trill ([ɡari] 'cured')
Provençal parts [paʀ] 'parts' See Occitan phonology
Southern Auvergnat garçon [ɡaʀˈsu] 'son'
Southeastern Limousin filh [fʲiʀ]
Norwegian Southern dialects rar [ʁ̞ɑːʁ̞] 'strange' Either an approximant or a fricative. See Norwegian phonology
Southwestern dialects
Portuguese European[27] rarear [ʀɐɾiˈaɾ] 'to get scarcer' Alternates with other uvular forms and the older alveolar trill. See Portuguese phonology
Fluminense[28] mercado [me̞ʀˈkadu] 'market', 'fair' Tendency to be replaced by fricative pronunciations. In coda position, it is generally in free variation with [x], [χ], [ʁ], [ħ] and [h] before non-voicing environments.
Sulista[28] repolho [ʀe̞ˈpoʎ̟ʊ] 'cabbage' Alternates with the alveolar trill and [h] depending on the region. Never used in coda.
Romani Some dialects rrom [ʀom] 'man' Allophone of a descendant of the Indic retroflex set, so often transcribed /ɽ/. A coronal flap, approximant or trill in other dialects; in some it merges with /r/
Selkup Northern dialects ӄаӄри [ˈqaʀlɪ̈] 'sledge' Allophone of /q/ before liquids
Sioux Lakota[29][30] ǧí [ʀí] 'it's brown' Allophone of /ʁ/ before /i/
Sotho Regional variant moriri [moʀiʀi] 'hair' Imported from French missionaries. See Sesotho phonology
Swedish Southern[31] räv [ʀɛːv] 'fox' See Swedish phonology
Yiddish Standard[32] בריק [bʀɪk] 'bridge' More commonly a flap [ʀ̆]; can be alveolar [ɾ ~ r] instead.[32] See Yiddish phonology

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), p. 225.
  2. ^ Map based on Trudgill (1974:220)
  3. ^ Trudgill (1974:221), citing Moulton (1952), Ewert (1963), and Martinet (1969)
  4. ^ a b Bisiada (2009).
  5. ^ a b Donaldson (1993), p. 15.
  6. ^ Wheeler (2005), pp. 24.
  7. ^ Booij (1999), p. 8.
  8. ^ Collins & Mees (2003), pp. 42, 54, 77, 165, 199–200.
  9. ^ Goeman & van de Velde (2001), pp. 91–92, 94–97, 99–104.
  10. ^ Verstraten & van de Velde (2001), pp. 45–46, 51, 53–55, 58.
  11. ^ Verhoeven (2005), pp. 243 and 245.
  12. ^ a b c Verstraten & van de Velde (2001), p. 52.
  13. ^ a b Collins & Mees (2003), p. 42.
  14. ^ Collins & Mees (2003), p. 209.
  15. ^ a b c d Verstraten & van de Velde (2001), p. 54.
  16. ^ Verstraten & van de Velde (2001), pp. 52 and 54.
  17. ^ a b Finn (2004), p. 976.
  18. ^ a b c d Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), p. 236.
  19. ^ Grevisse & Goosse (2008), pp. 22–36.
  20. ^ Hall (1993), p. 89.
  21. ^ a b Canepari (1999), pp. 98–101.
  22. ^ "Picture Dictionary: Japreria Animals". www.native-languages.org. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  23. ^ The guttural r is used in some other cities in the Low Saxon area as well.
  24. ^ Zuid-Drente en Noord-Overijssel. Zwolle. Reeks Nederlandse Dialectatlassen deel 14 (1982).
  25. ^ Gilles & Trouvain (2013), pp. 67–68.
  26. ^ Gilles & Trouvain (2013), p. 68.
  27. ^ Mateus & d'Andrade (2000), p. 11.
  28. ^ a b Acoustic analysis of vibrants in Brazilian Portuguese (in Portuguese)
  29. ^ Rood & Taylor (1996).
  30. ^ Lakota Language Consortium (2004). Lakota letters and sounds.
  31. ^ Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:225–226)
  32. ^ a b Kleine (2003:263)

References

  • Bisiada, Mario (2009), "[R] in Germanic Dialects — Tradition or Innovation?", Vernacular, 1: 84–99
  • Booij, Geert (1999), The phonology of Dutch, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-823869-X
  • Canepari, Luciano (1999) [1992], Il MªPi – Manuale di pronuncia italiana [Handbook of Italian Pronunciation] (in Italian) (2 ed.), Bologna: Zanichelli, ISBN 88-08-24624-8
  • Collins, Beverley; Mees, Inger M. (2003) [First published 1981], The Phonetics of English and Dutch (5th ed.), Leiden: Brill Publishers, ISBN 9004103406
  • Donaldson, Bruce C. (1993), "1. Pronunciation", A Grammar of Afrikaans, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 1–35, ISBN 9783110134261
  • Ewert, A. (1963), The French Language, London: Faber
  • Finn, Peter (2004), "Cape Flats English: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.), A handbook of varieties of English, vol. 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 964–984, ISBN 3-11-017532-0
  • Gilles, Peter; Trouvain, Jürgen (2013), "Luxembourgish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (1): 67–74, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000278
  • Goeman, Ton; van de Velde, Hans (2001). "Co-occurrence constraints on /r/ and /ɣ/ in Dutch dialects". In van de Velde, Hans; van Hout, Roeland (eds.). 'r-atics. Brussels: Etudes & Travaux. pp. 91–112. ISSN 0777-3692. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  • Grevisse, Maurice; Goosse, André (2008), Le Bon Usage (14th ed.), De Boeck et Larcier
  • Hall, Tracy Alan (1993), "The phonology of German /ʀ/", Phonology, 10 (1): 83–105, doi:10.1017/S0952675700001743, JSTOR 4615428, S2CID 195707076
  • Kleine, Ane (2003), "Standard Yiddish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (2): 261–265, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001385
  • Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19815-6.
  • Martinet, A. (1969), Le Français sans fard, Paris: Presses Universitaires
  • Mateus, Maria Helena; d'Andrade, Ernesto (2000), The Phonology of Portuguese, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-823581-X
  • Moulton, W.G. (1952), "Jacob Böhme's uvular r", Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 51: 83–89
  • Rood, David S.; Taylor, Allan R. (1996), "Sketch of Lakhota, a Siouan Language, Part I", Handbook of North American Indians, vol. 17, Smithsonian Institution, pp. 440–482, archived from the original on 2012-07-12, retrieved 2014-11-14
  • Trudgill, Peter (1974), "Linguistic change and diffusion: Description and explanation in sociolinguistic dialect", Language in Society, 3 (2): 215–246, doi:10.1017/S0047404500004358, S2CID 145148233
  • Verhoeven, Jo (2005), "Belgian Standard Dutch", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 35 (2): 243–247, doi:10.1017/S0025100305002173
  • Verstraten, Bart; van de Velde, Hans (2001). "Socio-geographical variation of /r/ in standard Dutch". In van de Velde, Hans; van Hout, Roeland (eds.). 'r-atics. Brussels: Etudes & Travaux. pp. 45–61. ISSN 0777-3692. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  • Wheeler, Max W. (2005), The Phonology Of Catalan, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-925814-7

External links

  • List of languages with [ʀ] on PHOIBLE
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IPA topics
IPA
Special topics
Encodings
Pulmonic consonants
Place → Labial Coronal Dorsal Laryngeal
Manner ↓ Bi­labial Labio­dental Linguo­labial Dental Alveolar Post­alveolar Retro­flex Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn­geal/epi­glottal Glottal
Nasal m̥ m ɱ̊ ɱ n̼ n̥ n ɳ̊ ɳ ɲ̊ ɲ ŋ̊ ŋ ɴ̥ ɴ
Plosive p b p̪ b̪ t̼ d̼ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ
Sibilant affricate ts dz t̠ʃ d̠ʒ tʂ dʐ tɕ dʑ
Non-sibilant affricate pɸ bβ p̪f b̪v t̪θ d̪ð tɹ̝̊ dɹ̝ t̠ɹ̠̊˔ d̠ɹ̠˔ cç ɟʝ kx ɡɣ qχ ɢʁ ʡʜ ʡʢ ʔh
Sibilant fricative s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ɕ ʑ
Non-sibilant fricative ɸ β f v θ̼ ð̼ θ ð θ̠ ð̠ ɹ̠̊˔ ɹ̠˔ ɻ̊˔ ɻ˔ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h ɦ
Approximant ʋ ɹ ɻ j ɰ ʔ̞
Tap/flap ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ̼ ɾ̥ ɾ ɽ̊ ɽ ɢ̆ ʡ̆
Trill ʙ̥ ʙ r̥ r ɽ̊r̥ ɽr ʀ̥ ʀ ʜ ʢ
Lateral affricate tɬ dɮ tꞎ d𝼅 c𝼆 ɟʎ̝ k𝼄 ɡʟ̝
Lateral fricative ɬ ɮ ꞎ 𝼅 𝼆 ʎ̝ 𝼄 ʟ̝
Lateral approximant l ɭ ʎ ʟ ʟ̠
Lateral tap/flap ɺ̥ ɺ 𝼈̥ 𝼈 ʎ̆ ʟ̆

Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless. Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible.

Non-pulmonic consonants
BL LD D A PA RF P V U EG
Ejective Stop pʼ tʼ ʈʼ cʼ kʼ qʼ ʡʼ
Affricate p̪fʼ t̪θʼ tsʼ t̠ʃʼ tʂʼ kxʼ qχʼ
Fricative ɸʼ fʼ θʼ sʼ ʃʼ ʂʼ ɕʼ xʼ χʼ
Lateral affricate tɬʼ c𝼆ʼ k𝼄ʼ q𝼄ʼ
Lateral fricative ɬʼ
Click
(top: velar;
bottom: uvular) 		Tenuis kʘ
qʘ 		kǀ
qǀ 		kǃ
qǃ 		k𝼊
q𝼊 		kǂ
qǂ
Voiced ɡʘ
ɢʘ 		ɡǀ
ɢǀ 		ɡǃ
ɢǃ 		ɡ𝼊
ɢ𝼊 		ɡǂ
ɢǂ
Nasal ŋʘ
ɴʘ 		ŋǀ
ɴǀ 		ŋǃ
ɴǃ 		ŋ𝼊
ɴ𝼊 		ŋǂ
ɴǂ 		ʞ
 
Tenuis lateral kǁ
qǁ
Voiced lateral ɡǁ
ɢǁ
Nasal lateral ŋǁ
ɴǁ
Implosive Voiced ɓ ɗ ᶑ ʄ ɠ ʛ
Voiceless ɓ̥ ɗ̥ ᶑ̊ ʄ̊ ɠ̊ ʛ̥
Co-articulated consonants
Labial–velar
ɧ
Sj-sound (variable)
Lateral approximant
Velarized alveolar
Labial–velar
Labial–alveolar
Other
Front Central Back
Close
•
•
Near-close
Close-mid
•
•
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
•
Open
•
•

Legend: unrounded • rounded

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The letter R
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Variations