Voiced uvular trill

Voiced uvular fricative trill
Voiced uvular fricative trill
ʀ̝

Voiced uvular trill
Voiced uvular trill
ʀ
IPA Number	123
Audio sample
	source · help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ʀ
Unicode (hex)	U+0280
X-SAMPA	R\
Braille
Image

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

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	^ⓘ	'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	^ⓘ	'rendezvous', 'appointment'	Dialectal. More commonly an approximant or a fricative [ʁ]. See French phonology
German	Standard^[20]	rot	^ⓘ	'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]	'son'
Norwegian	Southern dialects	rar	[ʁ̞ɑːʁ̞]	'strange'	Either an approximant or a fricative. See Norwegian phonology
Norwegian	Southwestern dialects	rar	[ʁ̞ɑːʁ̞]	'strange'
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

Notes

References

External links

List of languages with [ʀ] on PHOIBLE

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