Information About

Rhotic Consonant
  CATEGORIES ABOUT RHOTIC CONSONANT
   
consonants
   
phonology
   
phonetics
   
SHOPPER'S DELIGHT
 
Shop For:  
Department
Price Minimum:
Price Maximum:
      



  • ) vibrates, closing and opening the air passage. If a trill is made with the tip of the tongue against the upper gum, it is called an apical''' (tongue-tip) ''' Alveolar Trill '''; the IPA symbol for this sound is . If it is made with the uvula against the back of the tongue, it is a ''' Uvular Trill '''; the IPA symbol for this sound is . The Bilabial Trill , however, is not considered a rhotic.

  • :Many languages, for example Russian or Spanish , use trilled rhotics. In the English -speaking world, the stereotyped (if not actually very common) Scottish rolled {Link without Title} is well-known. The "stage pronunciation" of German specifies the alveolar trill for clarity. Rare kinds of trills include Czech ''ř'' (fricative trill) and Welsh ''rh'' ('''voiceless trill''').


  • ''', Australian ) flaps do not function as rhotics but are realizations of intervocalic apical stops ( or , for example in ''rider'' or ''butter''). The IPA symbol for this sound is .


  • Alveolar or Retroflex Approximant , as in most accents of English (with minute differences): The front part of the tongue approaches the upper gum, or the tongue-tip is curled back towards the roof of the mouth ("retroflexion"). No or little friction can be heard, and there is no momentary closure of the vocal tract. The IPA symbol for the alveolar approximant is and the symbol for the retroflex approximant is .



In broad transcription rhotics are usually symbolised as unless there are two or more types of rhotic in the same language. The IPA has a full set of different symbols which can be used whenever more phonetic accuracy is required: an ''r'' rotated 180° for the alveolar approximant, a small capital ''R'' for the uvular trill, and a flipped small capital ''R'' for the voiced uvular fricative.


SEE ALSO