View source for Voiced retroflex approximant

{{Short description|Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ɻ⟩ in IPA}}
{{Infobox IPA
|ipa symbol=ɻ
|ipa number=152
|decimal=635
|xsampa=r\`
|kirshenbaum=r
|braille=256
|braille2=number
|imagefile=IPA Unicode 0x027B.svg
|imagesize=150px
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above=Labialized voiced retroflex approximant
|ipa symbol=ɻʷ
|sound=Retroflex approximant.ogg
}}

The '''voiced retroflex approximant''' is a type of [[consonant]] used in some [[language]]s. The symbol in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] that represents this sound is {{angbr IPA|ɻ}}, and the equivalent [[X-SAMPA]] symbol is <code>r\`</code>. The IPA symbol 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 language|Dutch]] and [[American English]] sounds similar to the retroflex approximant but it has a very different articulation.

==Features==
[[File:Voiced_retroflex_approximant.svg|thumb|A schematic mid-sagittal section of an articulation of a voiced retroflex approximant [ɻ]]]

Features of the voiced retroflex approximant:

{{approximant}}
{{retroflex}}
{{voiced}}
{{oral}}
{{central articulation}}
{{pulmonic}}

==Occurrence==
{| class=wikitable
!Family
!colspan=2| Language !! Word !! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] !! Meaning !! Notes
|-
|[[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]]
| [[Chinese language|Chinese]] || [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] || {{lang|cmn-Hani|[[Chinese characters|日光]]}} {{lang|cmn-Latn|[[pinyin|'''rì'''guāng]]}} || [ɻ̺͢ɻ̺̞̍˥˩ku̯ɑ͢ŋ˥] || 'sunlight' || Apical.<ref>{{cite conference |last1=Lee |first1=Wai-Sum |title=An articulatory and acoustical analysis of the syllable-initial sibilants and approximant in Beijing Mandarin |conference=Proceedings of the 14th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences |date=1999 |s2cid=51828449 |url=https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/icphs-proceedings/ICPhS1999/papers/p14_0413.pdf }}</ref> 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 {{IPA|[ɻ̺&#x362;ɨ̟&#x361;ɻ̺&#x31e;&#x30d;˥˩ku̯ɑ&#x362;ŋ˥]}}, but this phonetic representation should be avoided as the tie-bar for coarticulation may be misunderstood as a sliding into an [[erhua]] [[rhotic vowel]], 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 {{IPAblink|ʐ}} 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 [[Standard Chinese phonology]].
The character 日 (''sun''), when pronounced with an overall strengthened friction (on both z and ɿ), may likely be understood as a profanity,{{Which|date=February 2025}} 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).
|-
|[[Nungish languages|Nungish]]
|colspan=2| [[Derung language|Derung]] || Tvrung || [tə˧˩ɻuŋ˥˧] || 'Derung' ||
|-
|rowspan=3 | [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| rowspan=3 | [[English language|English]] || Some [[American English|American]] dialects || rowspan=3 | [[English orthography|'''''r'''ed'']] || rowspan=3 | {{IPA|[ɻ(ʷ)ɛd]}} || rowspan=3 | 'red' || rowspan=3 | [[labialization|Labialized]] (pronounced with lips rounded). See [[Pronunciation of English /r/]]
|-
| Some [[Hiberno-English]] dialects
|-
| Some [[West Country English]]
|-
|[[Arnhem languages|Arnhem]]
|colspan=2| [[Enindhilyagwa language|Enindhilyagwa]] || {{lang|aoi|angwu'''r'''a}} || {{IPA|[aŋwuɻa]}} || 'fire' ||
|-
|[[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| colspan=2 | [[Faroese language|Faroese]]{{sfnp|Árnason|2011|p=115}} || {{lang|fo|[[Faroese orthography|hoy'''r'''di]]}} || {{IPA|[hɔiɻʈɛ]}} || 'heard' || Allophone of {{IPA|/ɹ/}}.{{sfnp|Árnason|2011|p=115}} Sometimes voiceless {{IPAblink|ɻ̊}}.{{sfnp|Árnason|2011|p=115}} See [[Faroese phonology]]
|-
|[[Hellenic languages|Hellenic]]
| [[Greek language|Greek]] || [[Cretan Greek|Cretan]] ([[Sfakia]] and [[Mylopotamos, Crete|Mylopotamos]] variations) region{{sfnp|Trudgill|1989|pp=18–19}} || {{lang|el|[[Greek alphabet|γά'''λ'''α]]}} {{Transliteration|el|[[Romanization of Greek|gá'''l'''a]]}} || {{IPA|[ˈɣaɻa]}} || 'milk' || [[intervocalic consonant|Intervocalic]] allophone of {{IPA|/l/}} before {{IPA|/a, o, u/}}. Recessive. See [[Modern Greek phonology]]
|-
|[[Eskimo-Aleut languages|Eskimo-Aleut]]
| [[Inuktitut]] || [[Nattilingmiutut]] || {{lang|iu-Latn|kiu'''ř'''uq}} || {{IPA|/kiuɻuq/}} || 'she replies' ||
|-
|[[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]]
|colspan=2| [[Malayalam]] || {{lang|ml|[[Malayalam alphabet|ആ'''ഴം''']]}}/{{lang|ml-Arab|[[Arabi Malayalam script|اٰ'''ژَ'''مْ]]}}/ā'''ḻ'''am || {{IPA|[aːɻɐm]}} || 'depth' ||
|-
|[[Mapudungun languages|Mapudungun]]
| colspan="2" | [[Mapuche language|Mapuche]]{{sfnp|Sadowsky|Painequeo|Salamanca|Avelino|2013|p=90}} || {{lang|arn|[[Mapudungun alphabet|'''r'''ayen]]}} || {{IPA|[ɻɜˈjën]}} || 'flower' || Possible realization of {{IPA|/ʐ/}}; may be {{IPAblink|ʐ}} or {{IPAblink|ɭ}} instead.{{sfnp|Sadowsky|Painequeo|Salamanca|Avelino|2013|p=90}}
|-
|-
|rowspan=3|[[Romance languages|Romance]]
|rowspan=3| [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] || Many [[Centro-Sul]] registers || {{lang|pt|[[Portuguese orthography|ca'''r'''tas]]}} || {{IPA|[ˈkaɻtə̥̆s]}} || 'letters' || rowspan=3|Allophone of rhotic consonants (and sometimes {{IPA|/l/}}) in the [[Syllable#Coda|syllable coda]]. Mainly<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brandão |first1=Silvia Figueiredo |title=Nas trilhas do -R retroflexo |journal=Signum: Estudos da Linguagem |date=15 December 2007 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=265 |doi=10.5433/2237-4876.2007v10n2p265 |doi-access=free }}</ref> found in rural [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]], [[Paraná (state)|Paraná]], south of [[Minas Gerais]] and surrounding areas, with the more common and [[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestigious]] realization in metropolitan areas being {{IPAblink|ɹ}} and/or [[R-colored vowel|rhotic vowel]] instead. As with {{IPAblink|ɽ}}, it appeared as a mutation of {{IPA|[ɾ]}}.<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Ferraz |first1=Irineu da Silva |title=Características fonético-acústicas do /r/ retroflexo do portugues brasileiro : dados de informantes de Pato Branco (PR) |date=2005 |hdl=1884/3955 |url=https://acervodigital.ufpr.br/handle/1884/3955 }}</ref><ref>{{in lang|pt}} [http://cedae.iel.unicamp.br/revista/index.php/sinteses/article/download/1198/1766 Syllable coda /r/ in the "capital" of the paulista hinterland: sociolinguistic analisis]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926191837/http://cedae.iel.unicamp.br/revista/index.php/sinteses/article/download/1198/1766 |date=2013-09-26 }} Cândida Mara Britto LEITE. Page 111 (page 2 in the attached PDF)</ref><ref>{{in lang|pt}} Callou, Dinah. Leite, Yonne. "Iniciação à Fonética e à Fonologia". Jorge Zahar Editora 2001, p. 24</ref> See [[Portuguese phonology]].
|-
| [[Caipira dialect|Caipira]] || {{lang|pt|[[Portuguese orthography|tempora'''l''']]}} || {{IPA|[tẽɪ̯̃pʊˈɾaɻ]}} || 'rainstorm'
|-
| Conservative [[Piracicaba]]no || {{lang|pt|[[Portuguese orthography|g'''r'''ato]]}} || {{IPA|[ˈgɻatʊ̥]}} || 'thankful' (m.)
|-
|[[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]]
|colspan=2| [[Tamil language|Tamil]]{{sfnp|Keane|2004|p=111}} || {{lang|ta|[[Tamil script|தமி'''ழ்''']]}}/Tami'''ḻ''' || {{Audio-IPA|Ta-தமிழ்.ogg|[t̪əˈmɨɻ]}} || 'Tamil' || See [[Tamil phonology]]. May be merged with {{IPAblink|ɭ}} for some modern speakers.
|-
|[[Pama-Nyungan languages|Pama-Nyungan]]
| [[Western Desert language|Western Desert]] || [[Pitjantjatjara dialect]] || {{lang|pjt|Ulu'''ṟ'''u}} || {{IPA|[ʊlʊɻʊ]}} || '[[Uluru]]' ||
|-
|[[Language isolate|Isolate]]
|colspan=2| [[Yaghan language|Yaghan]] || {{lang|yag|wá'''rh'''o}} || {{IPA|[ˈwaɻo]}} || 'cave' ||
|}

==See also==
* [[Alveolar approximant]]
* [[Retroflex consonant]]
* [[R-colored vowel]]
* [[Index of phonetics articles]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation
|last=Árnason
|first=Kristján
|title=The Phonology of Icelandic and Faroese
|year=2011
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|isbn=978-0-19-922931-4
}}
* {{citation
|last=Keane
|first=Elinor
|year=2004
|title=Tamil
|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association
|volume=34
|issue=1
|pages=111–116
|doi=10.1017/S0025100304001549
|doi-access=free
}}
* {{citation
|last1=Sadowsky
|first1=Scott
|last2=Painequeo
|first2=Héctor
|last3=Salamanca
|first3=Gastón
|last4=Avelino
|first4=Heriberto
|year=2013
|title=Mapudungun
|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association
|volume=43
|issue=1
|pages=87–96
|doi=10.1017/S0025100312000369
|doi-access=free
}}
* {{citation
|last=Trudgill
|first=Peter
|title=The Sociophonetics of /l/ in the Greek of Sphakiá
|year=1989
|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association
|volume=15
|issue=2
|pages=18–22
|doi=10.1017/S0025100300002942
|s2cid=143943154
}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{phoible|ɻ}}

{{IPA navigation}}
{{LetterR}}

[[Category:Retroflex consonants]]
[[Category:Pulmonic consonants]]
[[Category:Oral consonants]]
[[Category:Central consonants]]