R-COLORED VOWEL

In phonetics, an 'r-colored vowel' or 'rhotacized vowel' is a vowel either with the tip or blade of the tongue turned up during at least part of the articulation of the vowel (a retroflex articulation) or with the tip of the tongue down and the back of the tongue bunched. Both articulations produce basically the same auditory effect, a lowering in frequency of the third formant. In English, only some rhotic accents like General American contain r-colored vowels. They are rarely attested in other languages, but do occur in some (non-standard) varieties of Dutch.
In Mandarin Chinese, the rhotacized ending of some words is the prime way by which to distinguish speakers of Beijing dialect from those of other forms of Mandarin. Mandarin speakers call this phenomenon Erhua. In many words, ''-r'' suffix is added to indicate some meaning changes. In simplified written Chinese, the change is indicated with the suffix 儿 (If the word ends in a nasal, the final consonant is lost and the vowel becomes nasalized if what is lost is a nasal velar).
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 ''mouth,'' slightly rhotacized ("half retroflexed") ''bangle,'' and fully rhotacized ("fully retroflexed") ''crop.''

Contents

R-colored schwa

In English

Variations

In singing

Speech disorders

Notes

References

See also

R-colored schwa

The 'r-colored schwa' or 'schwer' is a type of rhotacized vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is [@`]. In English, this vowel sound occurs in rhotic accents in words like ''better'' and ''meter''.

In English

'Vocalic R', also called vowel-r, r-colored, r-controlled vowel, vocalic /r/, post-vocalic /r/, and R diphthongs, refers to the vocalic like properties that the consonant /r/ assumes when co-located with a vowel in an English word. For example, the ''-er'' sound in the word ''butter'' or ''anchor'' is a vocalic /r/.

Variations

The r-colored vowels of General American are written with vowel-r digraphs. Any vowel can be used:
:Stressed : ''ass'er't'', ''m'ir'th'', ''w'or'k'', ''t'ur'key'', ''m'yr'tle''
:Reduced : ''dinn'er''', ''lincolnsh'ir'e'', ''edit'or''', ''meas'ur'e''
An example of an r-colored vowel written as a vowel ''following'' "r" can be found in the word ''i'ro'n'' [].
Distinct phonemes that incorporate an R-colored vowel include (IPA symbols and examples are shown):

★ -er // ''earth, bird, butter''

★ -ar // ''art, farm, car''

★ -air // ''heiress, stairs, software''

★ -ear // ''earphones, cereal, skier''

★ -ire // ''fireman, wire''

★ -or // ''organize, horn, door''
The /rl/ combination, while not a vowel, could be considered an r diphthong. The /rl/ combination consists of // + /r/+ /l/. Additionally both /r/ and /l/ are glides increasing the complexity and difficulty of pronunciation.
Considering the different word positions--initial, medial and final--it has been suggested there are at least 21 distinct allophones of /r/.^[1]

In singing

Many vocalists who would normally speak English with r-colored vowels will suppress them at the ends of words while singing in English. Exceptions include many Irish singers.

Speech disorders

Pronunciation of vocalic /r/ is variable due to the inconsistencies of the different vowel combinations. These inconsistencies can cause articulation disorders or speech disorders, especially in younger children when producing /r/. Pronunciation of /r/ is difficult, and one of the most frequently misproduced sounds for a number of reasons including:


★ It can be either consonantal or vocalic;

★ There is no single defined way to produce the sound either by manner or place of articulation;

★ It tends to be a later developing sound; and

★ Correct pronunciation is not dependent upon spelling.^[2]
Vocalic /r/ evaluation and treatment is most commonly made by a speech-language pathologist.

Notes

1. Ristuccia, C.L. , Gilbert, D.W. & Ristuccia, J.E. (2005) ''The Entire World of R Book of Elicitation Techniques'', 'Say It Right': Tybee Island, GA ISBN 0-9760490-7-4.
2. Curtis, J.F.& Hardy, J.C. (1959) A phonetic study of misarticulation of /r/. ''Journal of Speech and Hearing Research'', 2 (3), 244-257.

References

★ Aungst, L.F. & Frick, J.V. (1964) Auditory discrimination ability and consistency of articulation of /r/. ''Journal of Speech and Hearing Research'', 29, 76-85.

★ Curtis, J.F.& Hardy, J.C. (1959) A phonetic study of misarticulation of /r/. ''Journal of Speech and Hearing Research'', 2 (3), 244-257.

★ Ristuccia, Christine. (2002) 'Phonologic strategy for /r/ remediation.' ''Advance for Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists'', 39, 21.

★ ''The Entire World of R Book of Elicitation Techniques'', Ristuccia, C.L. , Gilbert, D.W. & Ristuccia, J.E., , , 'Say It Right', 2005, ISBN 0-9760490-7-4

See also

★ List of phonetics topics

★ Linking R

★ Rhotic consonant

★ Syllabic consonant