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Voiced alveolar and postalveolar approximants
Consonantal sounds represented by ⟨ɹ⟩ / ⟨ð̠˕⟩ and ⟨ɹ̠⟩ in IPA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Voiced alveolar and postalveolar approximants are types of consonantal sounds used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents alveolar and postalveolar approximants is ⟨ɹ⟩, a lowercase letter r rotated 180 degrees.
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Features

Features of a voiced alveolar approximant:
- Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream.
- Its place of articulation is alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
- Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
- It is an oral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
- 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.
- Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.
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Occurrence
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Alveolar
Postalveolar

The most common sound represented by the letter r in English is the voiced postalveolar approximant, pronounced a little more back and transcribed more precisely in IPA as ⟨ɹ̠⟩, but ⟨ɹ⟩ is often used for convenience in its place. For further ease of typesetting, English phonemic transcriptions might use the symbol ⟨r⟩ even though this symbol represents the alveolar trill in phonetic transcription.
The bunched or molar r sounds remarkably similar to the postalveolar approximant and can be described as a voiced labial pre-velar approximant with tongue-tip retraction. It can be transcribed in extIPA as ⟨ɹ̈⟩.
As an allophone of other rhotic sounds, [ɹ] occurs in Edo, Fula, Murrinh-patha, and Palauan.[25]
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Voiced alveolar sibilant approximant
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A peculiar consonant of the Ikema-Irabu dialect of the Miyakoan language, a Ryukyuan language, is the voiced alveolar sibilant approximant, or voiced laminal alveolar approximant.[26] The International Phonetic Alphabet has no symbol to represent this sound, but a possible transcription is ⟨z̞⟩ or ⟨ɹ̻⟩.
Features
- This phoneme is a rare example of a sibilant approximant similar to its equivalent fricative, but with very little or no friction, i.e. a turbulent pulmonary airflow.[27]
- Its place of articulation is alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
- Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
- It is an oral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
- 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.
- Its 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
See also
Notes
References
External links
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