r-colored vowel

In the IPA, an r-colored vowel is indicated by a hook diacritic {{angbr IPA| ˞ }} placed to the right of the regular symbol for the vowel. For example, the IPA symbol for schwa is {{angbr IPA|ə}}, while the IPA symbol for an r-colored schwa is {{angbr IPA|ɚ}}. Similarly, the IPA symbol for the open-mid central unrounded vowel is {{angbr IPA|ɜ}}, while an r-colored open-mid central unrounded vowel is {{angbr IPA|ɝ}}. This diacritic is the hook of {{angbr IPA|ɚ}} or {{angbr IPA|ɝ}}, symbols constructed by John Samuel Kenyon along with {{angbr IPA|ᶔ}} by adding the retroflex hook (right hook) to {{angbr IPA|ə}} and {{angbr IPA|ɜ}}.{{cite book|title=American pronunciation: a textbook of phonetics for students of English|author=John Samuel Kenyon|publisher=G. Wahr|year=1935|page=191|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030999984&view=1up&seq=209|access-date=2020-03-16|archive-date=2021-08-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816204046/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015030999984&view=1up&seq=209|url-status=live}} Both {{angbr IPA|ɚ}} and {{angbr IPA|ɝ}} were proposed as IPA symbols by the editors of American Speech in 1939 to distinguish it from {{IPA|[əɹ]}}.{{cite journal|title=A Petition|journal=American Speech|volume=14|number=3|date=October 1939|pages=206–208|publisher=Duke University Press|doi=10.2307/451421|jstor=451421 }}

The IPA adopted several ways to transcribe r-colored vowels in its 1947 chart: the turned r {{angbr IPA|ɹ}}; the superscript turned r {{angbr IPA|əʴ}}, {{angbr IPA|aʴ}}, {{angbr IPA|eʴ}}, {{angbr IPA|ɔʴ}}, etc.; the retroflex hook {{angbr IPA|ᶕ}}, {{angbr IPA|ᶏ}}, {{angbr IPA|ᶒ}}, {{angbr IPA|ᶗ}}, etc.;{{cite journal|author=Association phonétique internationale|year=1947|title=The International Phonetic Alphabet (revised to 1947)|journal=Le Maître Phonétique|series=Troisième série|volume=25|issue=88|at=Supplement|jstor=44748304}} and added {{angbr IPA|ɚ}} as a variant of {{angbr IPA|ᶕ}} in its 1951 chart.{{cite journal|author=Association phonétique internationale|year=1952|title=The International Phonetic Alphabet (revised to 1951)|journal=Le Maître Phonétique|series=Troisième série|volume=30|issue=97|at=Front matter|jstor=44748475}} In 1976 the retroflex hook was dropped due to insufficient usage.{{cite journal|last=Wells|first=John C.|year=1976|title=The Association's Alphabet|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association|volume=6|issue=1|pages=2–3|doi=10.1017/S0025100300001420|s2cid=249403800 }} In 1989, at the Kiel Convention, the hook of {{angbr IPA|ɚ}} and {{angbr IPA|ɝ}} was adopted as a diacritic placed on the right side of the vowel symbol for r-colored vowels, e.g. {{angbr IPA|ɛ˞ o˞ ɔ˞}}.{{cite journal|author=International Phonetic Association|title=Report on the 1989 Kiel Convention|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association|year=1989|volume=19|issue=1|pages=67–80|doi=10.1017/S0025100300003868|s2cid=249412330 }} Following the convention of alternating {{angbr IPA|ɜ}} and {{angbr IPA|ə}} for non-rhotic accents, {{angbr IPA|ɝ}} and {{angbr IPA|ɚ}} signify stressed and unstressed, respectively, rather than a difference in phonetic quality.{{Accents of English|121|hide2=y|hide3=y}} The use of the superscript turned r ({{IPA|əʴ}}) is still commonly seen.

{{See also|Rhoticity in English}}

{{listen

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| title = Comparison of hiatus, consonantal /r/, and r-colored vowels in American English}}

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:{{cite book|page=66|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dX5P5mxtYYIC|title=An introduction to phonetics and phonology|author1=John Ellery Clark|author2=Colin Yallop|author3=Janet Fletcher|author3-link=Janet Fletcher|edition=third|publisher=Blackwell|location=Malden, MA|year=2007|isbn=978-1-4051-3083-7|access-date=2016-09-24|archive-date=2016-06-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610213730/https://books.google.com/books?id=dX5P5mxtYYIC|url-status=live}}

• {{IPA|[ɚ]}}: hearse, assert, mirth (stressed, conventionally written {{IPA|[ɝ]}}); standard, dinner, Lincolnshire (unstressed)
• {{IPA|[ɑ˞]}}: start, car
• {{IPA|[ɔ˞]}}: 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 {{IPA|[ɑɚ]}} or {{IPA|[ɑɹ]}}, rather than the unitary symbol {{IPA|[ɑ˞]}}.

{{unreferenced|section|date=May 2025}}

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.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} Certain post-grunge singers{{who?|date=May 2025}} 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/.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}

{{main|Erhua}}

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 ({{zh|t=兒|s=儿}}) 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.{{Cite book |last=Duanmu |first=San |title=The phonology of Standard Chinese |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford |pages=212–224}} 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 ({{zh|p=ér}}) and the perfective aspect particle ({{zh|labels=no|c=了|p=le}}). 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 ({{lang|zh|狗不理}}) in Tianjin is pronounced as 'Gourbli' (Gǒu(r)bùlǐ → Gǒurblǐ). The name of the street Dazhalan ({{lang|zh|大栅栏}}) in Beijing is pronounced as 'Da-shi-lar' (Dàshànlàn(r) → Dàshílàr).

In Quebec French, the vowel {{IPA|/œ̃/}} is generally pronounced {{IPA|[œ̃˞]}} and the r-colored vowels are also pronounced in loan words.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} For example, the word hamburger can be pronounced {{IPA|[ɑ̃bɚɡɚ]}} and the word soccer can be pronounced {{IPA|[sokɚ]}}.

The vowel /ø/ may be pronounced as {{IPA|[ø˞ː]}} in open syllables.

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 {{IPA|[be]}} "mouth", slightly rhotacized ("half retroflexed") {{IPA|[be˞]}} "bangle", and fully rhotacized ("fully retroflexed") {{IPA|[be˞˞]}} "crop".http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/appendix/languages/badaga/badaga.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211155113/http://www.phonetics.ucla.edu/appendix/languages/badaga/badaga.html |date=2021-02-11 }}

The Algic language Yurok illustrated rhotic vowel harmony. The non-high vowels {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/o/}} could become {{IPA|/ɚ/}} in a word that has {{IPA|/ɚ/}}. For example, the root {{IPA|/nahks-/}} 'three' became {{IPA|/nɚhks-/}} in the word {{IPA|/nɚhksɚʔɚjɬ/}} 'three (animals or birds)'.{{cite web|url=http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/~survey/languages/yurok.php|title=Yurok – Survey of California and Other Indian Languages|website=linguistics.berkeley.edu|access-date=2013-02-12|archive-date=2013-03-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301124432/http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/~survey/languages/yurok.php|url-status=live}}

Luobohe Miao also contains {{IPA|[ɚ]}}.{{cite web|url=http://omniglot.com/writing/luobohemiao.htm|title=Luobohe Miao language|website=Omniglot.com|access-date=2017-11-23|archive-date=2017-11-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171126200950/http://www.omniglot.com/writing/luobohemiao.htm|url-status=live}}

Katë, a Nuristani language, alongside neighboring languages such as Indo-Aryan Kalasha, has a rhotic vowel denoted as {{IPA|/ɘ˞/}}.{{cite thesis |last=Halfmann |first=Jakob |date=2024 |title=A Grammatical Description of the Katë Language (Nuristani) |type=PhD thesis |location=Köln |publisher=Universität zu Köln |url=https://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/73732/}}

{{wiktionary|R-coloured vowel}}

• Linking R
• Rhotic consonant (r-like)
• Syllabic consonant

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite journal|author1=L. F. Aungst|author2=J. V. Frick|date=1964|title=Auditory discrimination ability and consistency of articulation of /r/|journal=Journal of Speech and Hearing Research|volume=29|pages=76–85|doi=10.1044/jshd.2901.76 |pmid=14122671 }}
• {{cite journal|author1=J. F. Curtis|author2=J. C. Hardy|date=1959|title=A phonetic study of misarticulation of /r/|journal=Journal of Speech and Hearing Research|volume=2|issue=3|pages=244–257|doi=10.1044/jshr.0203.244 }}
• {{cite journal|author=Christine Ristuccia|date=2002-09-30|url=http://speech-language-pathology-audiology.advanceweb.com/Article/Phonologic-Strategy--for-r-Remediation.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210203943/http://speech-language-pathology-audiology.advanceweb.com/Article/Phonologic-Strategy--for-r-Remediation.aspx|archive-date=2009-02-10|title=Phonologic strategy for /r/ remediation|journal=Advance for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists|volume=12|issue=39|page=21|access-date=2018-12-26}}
• {{cite book|author1=C. L. Ristuccia|author2=D. W. Gilbert|author3=J. E. Ristuccia|title=The Entire World of R Book of Elicitation Techniques|url=http://www.sayitright.org/ET.html|location=Tybee Island, GA|work=Say It Right|year=2005|isbn=0-9760490-7-4}}

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Category:Vowels

Category:Phonology

Category:Phonetics