Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Uvular trill

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IPA number
  
123

Unicode (hex)
  
U+0280

Kirshenbaum
  
r"

Entity (decimal)
  
ʀ

X-SAMPA
  
R\

Braille
  
Example

Uvular trill

The 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 letter R. This consonant is one of several collectively called guttural R.

Contents

Features

Features of the uvular trill:

  • Its manner of articulation is trill, which means it is produced by directing air over the articulator so that it vibrates.
  • 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 lungs and diaphragm, 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 seventeenth century, spreading to standard varieties of German, Danish, Portuguese, as well as in parts 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. In most cases, varieties have shifted this to a voiced uvular fricative [ʁ] or a voiced uvular approximant [ʁ̞].

    The other main theory posits that the uvular R originated within Germanic languages through a process where the alveolar R was weakened and then replaced by an imitation of the alveolar R (vocalisation). As counterevidence against the "French origin" theory, it is stipulated that there are many signs that the uvular R existed in certain German dialects long before the 17th century.

    Features

    Features of the voiced uvular raised non-sonorant trill:

  • Its manner of articulation is fricative trill, which means it is a non-sibilant fricative and a trill pronounced simultaneously.
  • 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 lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

    • Occurrence

    It is phonemic in the Maastrichtian and Weert dialects of Limburgish, but it does not contrast with a plain uvular trill in either.

    References

    Uvular trill Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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