R-colored vowel

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An r-colored or rhotic vowel (also called a retroflex vowel, vocalic r, or a rhotacized vowel) is a vowel that is modified in a way that results in a lowering in frequency of the third formant.<ref name="Ladefoged">Template:Cite book</ref> R-colored vowels can be articulated in various ways: the tip or blade of the tongue may be turned up during at least part of the articulation of the vowel (a retroflex articulation) or the back of the tongue may be bunched. In addition, the vocal tract may often be constricted in the region of the epiglottis.<ref name="Ladefoged"/>

R-colored vowels are exceedingly rare, occurring in less than one percent of all languages.<ref name="Ladefoged"/> However, they occur in two of the most widely spoken languages: North American English and Mandarin Chinese. In North American English, they are found in words such as dollar, butter, third, color, and nurse. They also occur in Canadian French, some varieties of Portuguese,<ref>Template:In lang Acoustic-phonetic characteristics of the Brazilian Portuguese's retroflex /r/: data from respondents in Pato Branco, Paraná Template:Webarchive. Irineu da Silva Ferraz. Pages 19–21</ref><ref>Template:In lang Syllable coda /r/ in the "capital" of the Paulista hinterland: sociolinguistic analysis Template:Webarchive. Cândida Mara Britto LEITE. Page 111 (page 2 in the attached PDF)</ref><ref>Template:In lang Callou, Dinah. Leite, Yonne. "Iniciação à Fonética e à Fonologia". Jorge Zahar Editora 2001, p. 24</ref> some Jutlandic dialects of Danish, and in a few indigenous languages of the Americas and of Asia, including Serrano and Yurok in the United States, Luobohe Miao in China, Katë in Afghanistan, and Badaga in India.

NotationEdit

In the IPA, an r-colored vowel is indicated by a hook diacritic Template:Angbr IPA placed to the right of the regular symbol for the vowel. For example, the IPA symbol for schwa is Template:Angbr IPA, while the IPA symbol for an r-colored schwa is Template:Angbr IPA. Similarly, the IPA symbol for the open-mid central unrounded vowel is Template:Angbr IPA, while an r-colored open-mid central unrounded vowel is Template:Angbr IPA. This diacritic is the hook of Template:Angbr IPA or Template:Angbr IPA, symbols constructed by John Samuel Kenyon along with Template:Angbr IPA by adding the retroflex hook (right hook) to Template:Angbr IPA and Template:Angbr IPA.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Both Template:Angbr IPA and Template:Angbr IPA were proposed as IPA symbols by the editors of American Speech in 1939 to distinguish it from {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The IPA adopted several ways to transcribe r-colored vowels in its 1947 chart: the turned r Template:Angbr IPA; the superscript turned r Template:Angbr IPA, Template:Angbr IPA, Template:Angbr IPA, Template:Angbr IPA, etc.; the retroflex hook Template:Angbr IPA, Template:Angbr IPA, Template:Angbr IPA, Template:Angbr IPA, etc.;<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and added Template:Angbr IPA as a variant of Template:Angbr IPA in its 1951 chart.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 1976 the retroflex hook was dropped due to insufficient usage.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 1989, at the Kiel Convention, the hook of Template:Angbr IPA and Template:Angbr IPA was adopted as a diacritic placed on the right side of the vowel symbol for r-colored vowels, e.g. Template:Angbr IPA.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Following the convention of alternating Template:Angbr IPA and Template:Angbr IPA for non-rhotic accents, Template:Angbr IPA and Template:Angbr IPA signify stressed and unstressed, respectively, rather than a difference in phonetic quality.<ref>Template:Accents of English</ref> The use of the superscript turned r ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) is still commonly seen.

ExamplesEdit

EnglishEdit

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R-colored vowels are found in most rhotic forms of English, including General American and Irish English. The r-colored vowels of General American can be written with "vowel-r" diacritic:<ref name="Clark">Template:Cite book</ref>

{{#invoke:IPA|main}}: hearse, assert, mirth (stressed, conventionally written {{#invoke:IPA|main}}); standard, dinner, Lincolnshire (unstressed)
{{#invoke:IPA|main}}: start, car
{{#invoke:IPA|main}}: north, war

In words such as start, many speakers have r-coloring only in the coda of the vowel, rather than as a simultaneous articulation modifying the whole duration. This can be represented in IPA by using a succession of two symbols such as {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, rather than the unitary symbol {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.<ref name="Clark"/>

SingingEdit

{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Ambox }} In European classical singing, dropping or weakening of r-colored vowels has been nearly universal and is a standard part of classical vocal training. However, there have always been other singing styles in which r-colored vowels are given their full emphasis, including traditional Irish singing styles and those of many performers of country music.Template:Citation needed Certain post-grunge singersTemplate:Who? made heavy use of this technique to such an extent that many people derisively exaggerated this tendency when referencing their music. In certain particular cases, a vowel + /r/ is pronounced instead as two syllables: a non-rhotic vowel followed by a syllabic /r/.Template:Citation needed

Mandarin ChineseEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} In Mandarin, the rhotacized ending of some words is the prime way by which to distinguish speakers of Standard Northern Mandarin (Beijing Mandarin) and Southwestern Mandarin from those of other forms of Mandarin in China. Mandarin speakers call this phenomenon erhua. In many words, the -r suffix (Template:Zh) is added to indicate some meaning changes. If the word ends in a velar nasal (ng), the final consonant is lost and the vowel becomes nasalized.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Major cities that have this form of rhotacized ending include Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan, Shenyang, Changchun, Jilin, Harbin, and Qiqihar. This erhua has since spread to other provincial capitals not home to Standard Mandarin, such as Shijiazhuang, Jinan, Xi'an, Chongqing, and Chengdu.

In rhotic accents of Standard Mandarin, such as those from Beijing, Tianjin, most of the Hebei province (e.g. Tangshan, Baoding, Chengde), eastern Inner Mongolia (e.g. Chifeng, Hailar), and in the Northeast, vocalic r occurs as a diminutive marker of nouns (Template:Zh) and the perfective aspect particle (Template:Zh). This also occurs in the middle syllables of compound words consisting of three or more syllables. For example, the name of the famous restaurant Go Believe ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) in Tianjin is pronounced as 'Gourbli' (Gǒu(r)bùlǐ → Gǒurblǐ). The name of the street Dazhalan ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) in Beijing is pronounced as 'Da-shi-lar' (Dàshànlàn(r) → Dàshílàr).

Quebec FrenchEdit

In Quebec French, the vowel {{#invoke:IPA|main}} is generally pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and the r-colored vowels are also pronounced in loan words.Template:Citation needed For example, the word hamburger can be pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and the word soccer can be pronounced {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.

The vowel /ø/ may be pronounced as {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in open syllables.

Other examplesEdit

In the 1930s the Dravidian language Badaga had two degrees of rhoticity among all five of its vowels, but few speakers maintain the distinction today, and then only in one or two vowels. An example is non-rhotic {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "mouth", slightly rhotacized ("half retroflexed") {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "bangle", and fully rhotacized ("fully retroflexed") {{#invoke:IPA|main}} "crop".<ref>http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/appendix/languages/badaga/badaga.html Template:Webarchive </ref>

The Algic language Yurok illustrated rhotic vowel harmony. The non-high vowels {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}} could become {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in a word that has {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. For example, the root {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'three' became {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in the word {{#invoke:IPA|main}} 'three (animals or birds)'.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Luobohe Miao also contains {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Katë, a Nuristani language, alongside neighboring languages such as Indo-Aryan Kalasha, has a rhotic vowel denoted as {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>

ReferencesEdit

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