Alveolar Non-rhotic alveolar Some languages have a voiced (post)alveolar approximant that is acoustically distinct from a typical , which has variously been described as being '-like,' or 'non-
sulcalized'. though other authors have reported sounds of this type as being explicitly apical. Somewhat less controversially, the distinction may also be made as a
featural classing, between a 'rhotic approximant' and a '
spirant approximant' or '
frictionless continuant'; these two latter terms are now used mostly synonymously, and are explicitly defined as being non-rhotic, non-
lateral, and non-
semivowel approximants. The International Phonetic Alphabet has no symbol to represent this sound, but possible transcriptions with diacritics include (a
lowered ) and (a lowered and
retracted ), both of which have been used in literature.
Several symbols have been proposed to represent this sound, but none have become widely accepted. In
Sinological circles, the symbol has also been used for this sound.
Postalveolar of a voiced postalveolar approximant The most common sound represented by the letter
r in English is the
voiced postalveolar approximant, pronounced further back than a typical and transcribed more precisely in IPA as , but is often used for convenience in its place. For further ease of typesetting, English phonemic transcriptions might use the symbol even though this symbol represents the
alveolar trill in phonetic transcription. The
voiced velar bunched approximant , often called
bunched or
molar r, sounds remarkably similar to the postalveolar approximant, as does the
voiced retroflex approximant . As an allophone of other
rhotic sounds, occurs in
Edo,
Fula,
Murrinh-patha, and
Palauan. ==See also==