Editing Rhotic consonant

{{Short description|Class of consonants}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2020}}
{{IPA notice}}
In [[phonetics]], '''rhotic consonants''',  or "R-like" sounds, are [[liquid consonant]]s that are traditionally represented [[orthography|orthographically]] by symbols derived from the [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] letter [[Rho (letter)|rho]] (Ρ and ρ), including [[R|{{angle bracket|R}}, {{angle bracket|r}}]] in the [[Latin script]] and [[Er (Cyrillic)|{{angle bracket|Р}}, {{angle bracket|p}}]] in the [[Cyrillic script]]. They are transcribed in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] by upper- or lower-case variants of Roman {{angle bracket|R}}, {{angle bracket|r}}:<ref name="ladefoged1996sounds" /> {{angbr IPA|{{IPA link|r}}}},  {{angbr IPA|{{IPA link|ɾ}}}}, {{angbr IPA|{{IPA link|ɹ}}}}, {{angbr IPA|{{IPA link|ɻ}}}}, {{angbr IPA|{{IPA link|ʀ}}}}, {{angbr IPA|{{IPA link|ʁ}}}}, {{angbr IPA|{{IPA link|ɽ}}}}, and {{angbr IPA|{{IPA link|ɺ}}}}. Transcriptions for vocalic or semivocalic realisations of underlying rhotics include the {{angbr IPA|{{IPA link|ə|ə̯}}}} and {{angbr IPA|{{IPA link|ɐ|ɐ̯}}}}.

This class of sounds is difficult to characterise phonetically; from a phonetic standpoint, there is no single articulatory [[correlate]] ([[manner of articulation|manner]] or [[place of articulation|place]]) common to rhotic consonants.<ref name="lindau">{{Cite journal |last=Lindau |first=Mona |date=1978 |title=Vowel features |journal=Language |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=541–63 |doi=10.2307/412786 |jstor=412786}}</ref> Rhotics have instead been found to carry out similar phonological functions or to have certain similar phonological features across different languages.<ref name="Wiese">{{Cite book |last=Wiese |first=Richard |title=Distinctive Feature Theory |date=2001 |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |isbn=3-11-017033-7 |editor-last=T Alan Hall |location=Berlin |chapter=The phonology of /r/ |author-link=Richard Wiese (linguist)}}</ref>

Being "R-like" is an elusive and ambiguous concept phonetically and the same sounds that function as rhotics in some systems may pattern with [[fricative]]s, [[semivowel]]s or even stops in others.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wiese |first=Richard |title=The Blackwell Companion to Phonology |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]] |year=2011 |editor-last=van Oostendorp |editor-first=Marc |pages=711–729 |chapter=The representation of rhotics |author-link= |editor-last2=Ewen |editor-first2=Colin |editor-last3=Hume |editor-first3=Elizabeth |editor-last4=Rice |editor-first4=Keren}}</ref> For example, the [[alveolar flap]] is a rhotic consonant in many languages, but in [[North American English]], the alveolar tap is an allophone of the stop phoneme {{IPAslink|t}}, as in ''[[:wikt:water|water]]''. It is likely that rhotics are not a phonetically natural class but a phonological class.<ref name="chabot">{{Cite journal |last=Chabot |first=Alex |date=2019 |title=What's wrong with being a rhotic? |journal=Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics |volume=4 |issue=(1)38 |pages=1–24 |doi=10.5334/gjgl.618 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Some languages have '''rhotic''' and '''non-rhotic''' varieties, which differ in the incidence of rhotic consonants. In [[Rhoticity in English|non-rhotic accents of English]], {{IPA|/ɹ/}} is not pronounced unless it is followed directly by a vowel.

==Types==
The most typical rhotic sounds found in the world's languages are the following:<ref name="ladefoged1996sounds">{{Cite book |last1=Ladefoged |first1=Peter |title=The Sounds of the World's Languages |last2=Ian Maddieson |date=1996 |publisher=Blackwell |isbn=0-631-19814-8 |location=Oxford |pages=215–245 |chapter=Rhotics |author-link=Peter Ladefoged |author-link2=Ian Maddieson}}</ref>

* '''[[trill consonant|Trill]]''' (popularly known as '''rolled r'''): The airstream is interrupted several times as one of the organs of speech (usually the tip of the tongue or the [[uvula]]) 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 [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] symbol for this sound is {{IPA|[r]}}.  Most non-alveolar trills, such as the [[bilabial trill|bilabial one]], however, are not considered rhotic.
**Many languages, such as [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], [[Swedish language|Swedish]], [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], [[Frisian languages|Frisian]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and most [[Occitan language|Occitan variants]], use trilled rhotics. In the [[English language|English]]-speaking world, the stereotyped [[Scottish English|Scottish]] rolled {{IPA|[r]}} is well known.  The "stage pronunciation" of [[German language|German]] specifies the alveolar trill for clarity. Rare kinds of trills include [[Czech language|Czech]] {{angle bracket|ř}} {{IPA|[r̝]}} ('''[[Dental, alveolar and postalveolar trills#Voiced alveolar fricative trill|fricative trill]]''') and [[Welsh phonology|Welsh]] {{angle bracket|rh}} {{IPA|[r̥]}} ('''[[Voiceless alveolar trill|voiceless trill]]''').
**The '''[[uvular trill]]''' is another kind of rhotic trill; see below for more. 
*'''[[Tap and flap consonants|Tap ''or'' flap]]''' (these terms describe very similar articulations): Similar to a trill, but involving just one brief interruption of airflow. In many languages flaps are used as reduced variants of trills, especially in fast speech. However, in Spanish, for example, flaps and trills contrast, as in ''pero'' {{IPA|/ˈpeɾo/}} ("but") versus ''perro'' {{IPA|/ˈpero/}} ("dog"). Also flaps are used as basic rhotics in [[Japanese language|Japanese]] and [[Korean language|Korean]] languages. In [[Australian English]] and most [[American English|American]] dialects of English, taps do not function as rhotics but are realizations of intervocalic apical stops ({{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}}, as in ''butter'' and ''cider''). The IPA symbol for these sounds is {{IPA|[ɾ]}} (or substandard {{IPA|[ᴅ]}} for the tap, contrasted with the flap {{IPA|[ɾ]}}).
* '''[[alveolar approximant|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 {{IPA|[ɹ]}} and the symbol for the retroflex approximant is {{IPA|[ɻ]}}. There is a distinction between an ''unrounded retroflex approximant'' and a ''rounded'' variety that probably could have been found in [[Old English language|Anglo-Saxon]] and even to this day in some{{Which|date=June 2011}} dialects of English, where the orthographic key is ''r'' for the unrounded version and usually ''wr'' for the rounded version (these dialects will make a differentiation between ''right'' and ''write'').{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}} Also used as a rhotic in some dialects of Armenian, Dutch, German, Brazilian Portuguese (depending on [[phonotactics]]).
* '''[[uvular consonant|Uvular]]''' (popularly called '''[[guttural R|guttural r]]'''): The back of the tongue approaches the soft palate or the uvula. The standard Rs in [[Portuguese language|European Portuguese]], [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]], [[Danish language|Danish]], and [[Modern Hebrew]]<ref name="Zuckermann">{{Cite book |last=Zuckermann |first=Ghil'ad |title=Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew |title-link=Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-1403917232 |author-link=Ghil'ad Zuckermann}}</ref>{{rp|261}} are variants of this rhotic. If fricative, the sound is often impressionistically described as harsh or grating. This includes the [[voiced uvular fricative]], [[voiceless uvular fricative]], and [[uvular trill]]. In northern England, there were accents that once employed a uvular R, which was called the "[[Northumbrian burr]]".
* '''developmental non-rhotic Rs''': Many non-rhotic British speakers have a [[R-labialization|labialization]] to {{IPAblink|ʋ}} of their Rs, which is between idiosyncratic and dialectal (southern and southwestern England), and since it includes some [[Received Pronunciation|RP]] speakers, somewhat prestigious.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}} Apart from English, in all [[Brazilian Portuguese]] dialects the {{angle bracket|rr}} phoneme, or {{IPA|/ʁ/}}, may be actually realized as other, traditionally non-rhotic, [[fricative consonant|fricative]]s<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Barbosa|Albano|2004|pp=5–6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.portugueselanguageguide.com/portuguese/pronunciation/consonants.asp |title=Portuguese Consonants |publisher=Portugueselanguageguide.com }}</ref> (and most often is so), unless it occurs single between vowels, being so realized as a dental, alveolar, postalveolar or [[retroflex flap]]. In the syllable coda, it varies individually as a fricative, a flap or an approximant, though fricatives are ubiquitous in the [[North Region, Brazil|Northern]] and [[Northeast Region, Brazil|Northeastern]] regions and all states of [[Southeast Region, Brazil|Southeastern Brazil]] but [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]] and surrounding areas. The total inventory of {{IPA|/ʁ/}} allophones is rather long, or up to {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|r}} {{IPAplink|ʂ|ɻ̝̊}} {{IPAplink|ʐ|ɻ̝}}}} ([[Caipira dialect|Caipira]] speakers with {{IPAplink|ɽ}} and Eastern speakers, under influence of [[Andean Spanish]]) {{IPA|{{IPAplink|ç}} {{IPAplink|ʝ}}(<[rʲ]) {{IPAplink|x}} {{IPAplink|ɣ}} {{IPAplink|χ}} {{IPAplink|ʁ}}~{{IPAplink|ʀ}} {{IPAplink|ħ}} {{IPAplink|ʕ}} {{IPAplink|h}} {{IPAplink|ɦ}}]}}, the latter eight being particularly common, while none of them except archaic {{IPAblink|r}}, that contrasts with the flap in all positions, may occur alone in a given dialect.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} Few dialects, such as [[South Region, Brazil|''sulista'']] and [[Rio de Janeiro (state)|''fluminense'']], give preference to voiced allophones; elsewhere, they are common only as coda, before voiced consonants. Additionally, some other languages and variants, such as [[Haitian Creole]] and Timorese Portuguese, use velar and glottal fricatives instead of traditional rhotics, too. In [[Vietnamese phonology|Vietnamese]], depending on dialect, the rhotic can occur as {{IPA|[z]}}, {{IPA|[ʐ]}} or {{IPA|[ɹ]}}. In [[Standard Chinese phonology|modern Mandarin Chinese]], the phoneme {{IPA|/ɻ~ʐ/}}, which is represented as {{angle bracket|r}} in [[Hanyu Pinyin]], resembles the rhotics in other languages in realization, thus it can be considered a rhotic consonant.

Furthermore, there is also a non-syllabic open vowel {{IPA|[ɐ̯]}} (conventional transcription, the exact quality varies) that patterns as {{IPA|/r/}} in some Germanic languages such as German, Danish and [[Luxembourgish language|Luxembourgish]]. It occurs only in the syllable coda.

==Characteristics==
In broad transcription rhotics are usually symbolised as {{IPA|/r/}} unless there are two or more types of rhotic in the same language; for example, most [[Australian Aboriginal languages]], which contrast approximant {{IPA|[ɻ]}} and trill {{IPA|[r]}}, use the symbols ''r'' and ''rr'' respectively.  The IPA has a full set of different symbols which can be used whenever more phonetic precision is required: an ''r'' rotated 180° {{IPA|[ɹ]}} for the alveolar approximant, a small capital ''R'' {{IPA|[ʀ]}} for the uvular trill, and a flipped small capital ''R'' {{IPA|[ʁ]}} for the voiced uvular fricative or approximant.

The fact that the sounds conventionally classified as "rhotics" vary greatly in both place and manner in terms of articulation, and also in their acoustic characteristics, has led several linguists to investigate what, if anything, they have in common that justifies grouping them together.<ref name = chabot /> One suggestion that has been made is that each member of the class of rhotics shares certain properties with other members of the class, but not necessarily the same properties with all; in this case, rhotics have a "[[family resemblance]]" with each other rather than a strict set of shared properties.<ref name="lindau" /> Another suggestion is that rhotics are defined by their behaviour on the [[sonority hierarchy]], namely, that a rhotic is any sound that patterns as being more sonorous than a [[lateral consonant]] but less sonorous than a [[vowel]].<ref name="Wiese" /> The potential for variation within the class of rhotics makes them a popular area for research in sociolinguistics.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Scobbie |first=James |editor=Roger Brown|title=Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics | edition=2nd |year=2006 |publisher=Elsevier |location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-08-044299-0 |chapter=(R) as a variable | pages=337–344}}</ref>

==Rhotics and rhoticity in the world's languages==
===English===
{{main|Rhoticity in English|Pronunciation of English /r/}}
English has rhotic and non-rhotic accents. Rhotic speakers pronounce a historical {{IPA|/r/}} in all instances, while non-rhotic speakers only pronounce {{IPA|/r/}} at the beginning of a syllable.

===Dutch===
Colloquial Northern Dutch speech of the [[Randstad]] region is variably rhotic. In the syllable coda, the sequences {{IPA|/ɛr, ɑr, aːr, ɔr, oːr/}} may be realized as {{IPA|[ɛ̝j, ɑj, aːj, ö̞j, öːj]}}, which may be close to or the same as the vowels or sequences {{IPA|/eː, ɑj, aːj, ɔj, oːj/}}, resulting in a variable merger. For instance, ''kerk'' 'church' and ''cake'' 'pound cake' may become homophonous as {{IPA|[kɛ̝jk]}}, whereas ''maar'' 'but' can be homophonous with ''maai'' '(I) mow' as {{IPA|[maːj]}}. {{IPA|/ɔr/}} and {{IPA|/oːr/}} are usually somewhat distinct from {{IPA|/ɔj/}} and {{IPA|/oːj/}} as the former feature vowels that are more central (and {{IPA|/oːj/}} features a diphthong {{IPA|[əuj]}} in certain dialects, such as Rotterdam Dutch).{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003|pp=112, 130, 134, 200–1}}

After {{IPA|/ə/}}, {{IPA|/r/}} may be dropped altogether, as in ''kilometer'' {{IPA|[ˈkilömeitə]}} 'kilometer'. This is commonly heard in [[The Hague]]. It is not necessarily restricted to the word-final position, as it can also happen in word-final clusters in words such as ''honderd'' {{IPA|[ˈɦɔndət]}} 'hundred'.{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003|p=201}}

After {{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/y/}}, {{IPA|/u/}}, {{IPA|/eː/}} and {{IPA|/øː/}}, {{IPA|/r/}} may be realized as a centering glide, as in ''mier'' {{IPA|[mïːə̯]}} 'ant', ''muur'' {{IPA|[mÿːə̯]}} 'wall', ''moer'' {{IPA|[müːə̯]}} 'queen bee', ''meer'' {{IPA|[mɪːə̯]}} 'lake' and ''deur'' {{IPA|[dʏːə̯]}} 'door'. As with {{IPA|/ɔ/}} and {{IPA|/oː/}}, these vowels are more central (and also longer) than in other contexts. Furthermore, both {{IPA|/eː/}} and {{IPA|/øː/}} are [[Relative articulation#Raised and lowered|raised]] in this context, so that ''meer'' becomes a near-homophone of ''mier'', whereas ''deur'' becomes a quasi-rhyme of ''muur''.{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003|pp=130, 132, 134, 200}}

In citation forms, {{IPA|/r/}} in the syllable coda is pronounced as a [[Pharyngealization|pharyngealized]] [[velar bunched approximant|pre-velar bunched approximant]] {{IPA|[ɰ̟ˤ]}} (known in Dutch as the ''[[w:nl:Gooise r|Gooise r]]'') that is acoustically similar to {{IPAblink|ɻ}}: {{IPA|[kɛ̝ɰ̟ˤk, ˈkilömeitəɰ̟ˤ, mïə̯ɰ̟ˤ]}} etc. Other realizations ([[alveolar tap]]s and [[voiced uvular fricative]]s) are also possible, depending on the region and individual speaker, so that ''mier'' may be also pronounced {{IPA|[mïə̯ɾ]}} or {{Audio-IPA|Nl-mier.ogg|[mïə̯ʁ]|help=no}}. The pre-velar bunched approximant as well as the palatal approximant realization of {{IPA|/r/}} described above are virtually unknown in southern varieties of Dutch. In the varieties where they do occur, they are restricted to the syllable coda. In other environments, {{IPA|/r/}} is realized as {{IPAblink|ɾ}} or {{IPAblink|ʁ}}.{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003|pp=200–1}}

===Other Germanic languages===
The rhotic consonant is dropped or vocalized under similar conditions in other Germanic languages, notably [[German language|German]], [[Danish language|Danish]], western [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] and southern [[Swedish language|Swedish]] (both because of Danish influence), rendering the English accents that native speakers of these languages speak with as non-rhotic as well.

In most varieties of German (with the notable exception of [[Swiss Standard German]]), {{IPA|/r/}} in the [[syllable coda]] is frequently realized as a vowel or a [[semivowel]], {{IPA|[ɐ]}} or {{IPA|[ɐ̯]}}. In the traditional standard pronunciation, this happens only in the unstressed ending ''-er'' and after long vowels: for example ''besser'' {{IPA|[ˈbɛsɐ]}}, ''sehr'' {{IPA|[zeːɐ̯]}}. In common speech the vocalization is usual after short vowels as well, and additional contractions may occur: for example ''Dorn'' {{IPA|[dɔɐ̯n]}} ~ {{IPA|[dɔːn]}}, ''hart'' {{IPA|[haɐ̯t]}} ~ {{IPA|[haːt]}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wiese |first=Richard |title=The Phonology of German |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-19-829950-8 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford, New York |author-link=Richard Wiese (linguist)}}</ref> Commonplace mergers include that of {{IPA|/ar/}} with {{IPA|/aː/}} (leading to homophony of e.g. ''warten, waten'') and loss of length distinctions before coda {{IPA|/r/}} (e.g. homophony of ''Herr, Heer'').<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pracht|first=Henrike|title=Schemabasierte Basisalphabetisierung im Deutschen. Ein Praxisbuch für Lehrkräfte|publisher=Waxmann Verlag|year=2012|page=67}}</ref> Compare [[German phonology]].

Similarly, Danish {{IPA|/r/}} after a vowel is, unless followed by a stressed vowel, either pronounced {{IPA|da|ɐ̯|}} (''mor'' "mother" {{IPA|da|moɐ̯|}}, ''næring'' "nourishment" {{IPA|da|ˈneːɐ̯e̝ŋ|}}) or merged with the preceding vowel while usually influencing its [[vowel quality]] ({{IPA|/a(ː)r/}} and {{IPA|/ɔːr/}} or {{IPA|/ɔr/}} are realised as long vowels {{IPA|da|ɑː|}} and {{IPA|da|ɒː|}}, and {{IPA|/ər/}}, {{IPA|/rə/}} and {{IPA|/rər/}} are all pronounced {{IPA|da|ɐ|}}) (''løber'' "runner" {{IPA|da|ˈløːpɐ|}}, ''[[Søren Kierkegaard]]'' (personal name) {{IPA|da|ˌsœːɐn ˈkʰiɐ̯kəˌkɒˀ|}}).

===Astur-Leonese===
In [[Asturian language|Asturian]], word-final {{IPA|/r/}} is always lost in [[infinitives]] before an [[enclitic]] pronoun, which is reflected in writing. For example, the infinitive form ''dar'' {{IPA|[dar]}} plus the third-person plural dative pronoun "-yos" ''da-yos'' {{IPA|[ˈdaʝos]}} ("give to them") or the accusative form "los" ''dalos'' {{IPA|[ˈdalos]}} ("give them"). That happens also in [[Leonese language|Leonese]] in which the infinitive form is "dare" {{IPA|[ˈdare]}}, and both the {{IPA|/r/}} and the vowel are dropped (''da-yos'', not *''dáre-yos''). However, most speakers also drop rhotics in the infinitive before a lateral consonant of a different word, but that is not shown in writing: ''dar los dos'' {{IPA|[daː los ðos]}} (give the two [things]). That does not occur in the middle of words: the name ''Ca'''rl'''os'' {{IPA|[ˈkarlos]}}.

===Catalan===
In some [[Catalan language|Catalan]] dialects, word-final {{IPA|/r/}} is lost in coda position not only in suffixes of nouns and adjectives denoting the masculine singular and plural (written as ''-r'', ''-rs''; as well as in words like ''llavors'' {{IPA|[ʎəˈβɔs]}} "then; so"), but also in the "-''ar'', -''er'' and -''ir''" suffixes of infinitives: ''forner'' {{IPA|[furˈne]}} "(male) baker", ''forners'' {{IPA|[furˈnes]}}, ''fer'' {{IPA|[ˈfe]}} "to do", ''lluir'' {{IPA|[ʎuˈi]}} "to shine, to look good". However, rhotics are "recovered" when followed by the feminine suffix ''-a'' {{IPA|[ə]}}, and when infinitives have single or multiple [[Clitic|enclitic]] pronouns (notice the two rhotics are neutralized in the coda, with a [[flap consonant|flap]] {{IPA|[ɾ]}} occurring between vowels, and a [[trill consonant|trill]] {{IPA|[r]}} elsewhere); e.g. ''fornera'' {{IPA|[furˈneɾə]}} "(female) baker", ''fer-lo'' {{IPA|[ˈferɫu]}} "to do it (masc.)", ''fer-ho'' {{IPA|[ˈfeɾu]}} "to do it/that/so", ''lluir-se'' {{IPA|[ʎuˈir.sə]}} "to excel, to show off".

===French===
Final ⟨r⟩ is generally not pronounced in words ending in ⟨-er⟩. The R in ''parce que'' ("because") is not pronounced in informal speech.

===Malay (including Indonesian)===
The pronunciation of final {{IPA|/r/}} in [[Malay language|Malay]] and [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] varies considerably. In Indonesian, {{Lang|ms|Baku}} ({{lit|standard}}) Malay, and [[Kedah Malay]], the final {{IPA|/r/}} is pronounced, but in the Johor-Riau accent, the standard accent of Malay in Brunei and Malaysia, and several other dialects, it is not.

The quality of the realization of the phoneme varies too. In the syllable onset, in Indonesian, {{Lang|ms|Baku}} Malay, and standard Johor-Riau Malay, it varies between a trill {{IPAblink|r}}, a flap {{IPAblink|ɾ}}, and sometimes, even an approximant {{IPAblink|ɹ̠}}. In many dialects of Malay, such as those of [[Kedah Malay|Kedah]], [[Kelantan-Pattani Malay|Kelantan-Pattani]] and [[Terengganu Malay|Terengganu]], onset {{IPA|/r/}} is usually realized as a [[Velar consonant|velar]] fricative {{IPAblink|ɣ}}. In [[Perak Malay]], a [[Uvular consonant|uvular]] pronunciation, {{IPAblink|ʁ}} is more common.

In Kedah Malay, final {{IPA|/r/}} is uniquely realized as a pharyngeal fricative {{IPAblink|ʕ}}. In the dialect of Malacca, when it appears after {{IPA|/a/}}, final {{IPA|/r/}} is vocalized into {{IPAblink|w}} or {{IPAblink|u}}.

===Portuguese===
In some dialects of [[Brazilian Portuguese]], {{IPA|/ʁ/}} is unpronounced or aspirated. That occurs most frequently with verbs in the [[infinitive]], which is always indicated by a word-final {{IPA|/ʁ/}}. In some states, however, it happens mostly with any {{IPA|/ʁ/}} when preceding a consonant. The "[[Carioca]]" accent (from the city of [[Rio de Janeiro]]) is notable for this. The [[Caipira dialect]] (from São Paulo countryside) usually realizes {{IPA|/ʁ/}} as {{IPA|[ɻ]}}, {{IPA|[χ]}}, or {{IPA|[r̪̊]}}. 

===Spanish===
Among the [[Spanish dialects and varieties|Spanish dialects]], [[Andalusian Spanish]], [[Caribbean Spanish]] (descended from and still very similar to Andalusian and [[Canarian Spanish]]), [[Castúo]] (the Spanish dialect of [[Extremadura]]), Northern [[Colombian Spanish]] (in cities like [[Cartagena, Colombia|Cartagena]], [[Montería]], [[San Andrés, San Andrés y Providencia|San Andrés]] and [[Santa Marta]], but not [[Barranquilla]], which is mostly rhotic) and the [[Languages of Argentina#Spanish|Argentine dialect]] spoken in the [[Tucumán Province|Tucumán province]] may have an unpronounced word-final {{IPA|/r/}}, especially in infinitives, which mirrors the situation in some dialects of Brazilian Portuguese. However, in Antillean Caribbean forms, word-final {{IPAblink|r}} in infinitives and non-infinitives is often in free variation with word-final {{IPAblink|l}}, which may be [[Delateralization|delateralized]] to {{IPAblink|j}}, forming a rising diphthong with the preceding vowel (as in ''dar'' {{IPA|[daj]}} 'to give').

===Thai===
The native Thai rhotic is the [[alveolar trill]]. The English approximants /ɹ/ and /l/ are used interchangeably in [[Thai language|Thai]]. That is, Thai-speakers generally replace an English-derived ''r'' (ร) with an ''l'' (ล), and when they hear an ''l'' (ล), they may write an  ''r'' (ร).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kanokpermpoon |first=Monthon |date=2007 |title=Thai and English consonantal sounds: A problem or a potential for EFL learning? |url=http://www.assumptionjournal.au.edu/index.php/abacjournal/article/view/583 |journal=ABAC Journal |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=57–66}}</ref>

===Turkish===
In [[Istanbul Turkish]], {{IPA|/r/}} is always pronounced except in colloquial speech for the present continuous tense suffix {{lang|tr|yor}} as in {{lang|tr|gidiyor}} ('going') or {{lang|tr|yazıyordum}} ('I was writing') and {{lang|tr|bir}} ('one') when used as an adjective/quantifier (but not other numbers containing this word, such as {{lang|tr|on bir}} ('eleven')). In these cases, the preceding vowel is not lengthened. The unfavorability of dropping {{IPA|/r/}} can be explained with minimal pairs, such as {{lang|tr|çaldı}} ('stole') versus {{lang|tr|çaldır}} (imperative 'ring').{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In some parts of [[Turkey]], like [[Kastamonu]], the syllable-final {{IPA|/r/}} is almost never pronounced: ''gidiya'' instead of ''gidiyor'' ("she/he is going") and ''gide'' instead of ''gider'' ("she/he goes"). In ''gide'', the [[compensatory lengthening|preceding ''e'' is lengthened]] and pronounced somewhat between ''e'' and ''a''.

===Chinese===
Northern [[Chinese language|Chinese]] accents, centered around [[Beijing]], are well known as having ''[[erhua]]'' which can be translated as "R-change". This normally happens at ends of words, particularly ones that end in an -n/-ng sound. So a southern Chinese might say ''yī diǎn'' (一点) ("a little bit") but a Beijinger would say it more like [(j)i tʲɚ] which in [[Pinyin]] is sometimes rendered ''yī diǎnr'' to show if the word can be rhotacized. The final "R" sound is strongly pronounced, not unlike Irish or American accents.

===Uyghur===
Among the [[Turkic languages]], [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]] displays more or less the same feature, as syllable-final {{IPA|/r/}} is dropped, and [[compensatory lengthening|the preceding vowel is lengthened]]: ''Uyghurlar'' {{IPA|[ʔʊɪˈʁʊːlaː]}} '[[Uyghur people|Uyghur]]s'. The {{IPA|/r/}} may, however, sometimes be pronounced in unusually "careful" or "pedantic" speech; in such cases, it is often [[linking and intrusive R|mistakenly inserted]] after long vowels even when there is no phonemic {{IPA|/r/}}.

===Yaqui===
Similarly in [[Yaqui language|Yaqui]], an indigenous language of northern [[Mexico]], intervocalic or syllable-final {{IPA|/r/}} is often dropped with lengthening of the previous vowel: ''pariseo'' becomes {{IPA|[paːˈseo]}}, ''sewaro'' becomes {{IPA|[sewajo]}}.

===Lacid===
[[Lacid language|Lacid]], whose [[exonyms]] in various literature include Lashi, Lachik, Lechi, and Leqi, is a [[Tibeto-Burman language]] spoken by the [[Lacid people]]. There are various reports of their population from 30,000 to 60,000 people. Most are in [[Myanmar]], but there are also small groups in [[China]] and [[Thailand]].<ref>Noftz 2017, A Literature Review on Segments in Lacid (Lashi)</ref> Noftz (2017) reports finding an example of a rhotic alveolar fricative in Lacid while he was doing phonological research at Payap University, in [[Thailand]], in 2015. He was not able to continue his research and expressed the need for further examination of the segment to verify his results. It is postulated that the segment is a remnant of the rhotic fricative in [[Proto-Tibeto-Burman]].<ref>A Literature Review on Segments in Lachid (Lashi), Robert Noftz, 2017</ref>

===Berber languages===
Syllable-final {{IPA|/r/}} is lost in many varieties of [[Rif Berber]] and is lengthened before {{IPA|/a/}} to {{IPA|[aː]}}, and {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/u/}} become diphthongs like in English or German. However, a distinct phoneme {{IPA|/ɾ/}} from earlier {{IPA|/l/}} exists and does not undergo the same development.<ref name="Kossmann 1997">{{cite web| url = https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/4150/1267577_033.pdf?sequence=1| title = Kossmann, M.G.; Stroomer, H.J.: "Berber Phonology", p. 469-71, in ''Phonologies of Asia and Africa'' (1997)}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Rhotic and non-rhotic accents]]
* [[R-colored vowel|R-coloured vowel]]
* [[Guttural R]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Citation
|last1=Barbosa
|first1=Plínio A.
|last2=Albano
|first2=Eleonora C.
|year=2004
|title=Brazilian Portuguese
|journal = Journal of the International Phonetic Association
|volume=34
|issue=2
|pages=227–232
|doi =10.1017/S0025100304001756
|url =https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/8EE69D52AE2D06C1EDA2841EA2E14FEC/S0025100304001756a.pdf/brazilian_portuguese.pdf
|doi-access=free
}}
* {{Citation
|last1=Collins
|first1=Beverley
|last2=Mees
|first2=Inger M.
|year=2003
|orig-year=First published 1981
|title=The Phonetics of English and Dutch
|edition=5th
|place=Leiden
|publisher=Brill Publishers
|isbn=9004103406
}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book
|editor1-last=Spreafico
|editor1-first=Lorenzo
|editor2-last=Vietti
|editor2-first=Alessandro
|year=2013
|title=Rhotics: New Data and Perspective
|publisher=Bozen-Bolzano University Press
|isbn=978-88-6046-055-4
|url=http://www.oapen.org/search?identifier=639804
}}
* Wiese, Richard (2011) The representation of rhotics. In ''The Blackwell Companion to Phonology, vol. 1''. Marc van Oostendorp, Colin Ewen, Elizabeth Hume, and Keren Rice, (eds.), 711–729. DOI: 10.1002/9781444335262.wbctp0030

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