Alveolar approximant

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Alveolar approximant

The alveolar approximant is a type of consonant

Consonant

In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper vocal tract, the upper vocal tract being defined as that part of the vocal tract that lies above the larynx....
al sound used in some spoken language

Language

A language is a form of symbol communication in which elements are combined to represents something other than themselves. Language can also refer to the use of such systems as a general phenomenon....
s. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet

International Phonetic Alphabet

The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic....
that represents alveolar

Alveolar consonant

Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the Dental alveolus of the superior teeth....
and postalveolar

Postalveolar consonant

Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, placing them a bit further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate ....
approximants

Approximant consonant

Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and "typical" consonants. In the articulation of approximants, articulatory organs produce a narrowing of the vocal tract, but leave enough space for air to flow without much audible turbulence....
is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA

X-SAMPA

The Extended Speech Assessment Methods Phonetic Alphabet is a variant of SAMPA developed in 1995 by John C. Wells, professor of phonetics at the University of London....
symbol is r\. The IPA symbol is a turned lowercase letter r. The segment is rare among the world's languages, and is sometimes called English R.

Some phonemic transcriptions use the <> symbol instead of <> for ease of typesetting, even though that former symbol technically represents the alveolar trill

Alveolar trill

The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental consonant, alveolar consonant, and postalveolar consonant trill consonant is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r....
.

Features
Features of the alveolar approximant:

Acoustically, the formant

Formant

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Encyclopedia

The alveolar approximant is a type of consonant

Consonant

Language

International Phonetic Alphabet

Alveolar consonant

Postalveolar consonant

Approximant consonant

X-SAMPA

Alveolar trill

Features

Features of the alveolar approximant:

Its manner of articulation
Manner of articulation

In linguistics , manner of articulation describes how the tongue, lips, jaw, and other speech organs are involved in making a sound make contact....
is approximant
Approximant consonant

Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and "typical" consonants. In the articulation of approximants, articulatory organs produce a narrowing of the vocal tract, but leave enough space for air to flow without much audible turbulence....
, which means it is produced by bringing one articulator close to another but without the vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that a turbulent airstream is produced.
Its place of articulation
Place of articulation

In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation of a consonant is the point of contact, where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract between an active articulator and a passive articulator ....
is alveolar
Alveolar consonant

Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the Dental alveolus of the superior teeth....
, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge
Alveolar ridge

An alveolar ridge is one of the two jaw ridges either on the roof of the mouth between the upper teeth and the hard palate or on the bottom of the mouth behind the lower teeth....
, termed respectively apical
Apical consonant

An apical consonant is a Phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the apex of the tongue . This contrasts with laminal consonants, which are produced by creating an obstruction with the blade of the tongue ....
and laminal
Laminal consonant

A laminal consonant is a Phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the blade of the tongue, which is the flat top front surface just behind the tip of the tongue on the top....
.
Its phonation
Phonation

Phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration....
type is voiced, which means the vocal cords are vibrating during the articulation.
It is an oral consonant
Oral consonant

An oral consonant is a consonant sound in Speech communication that is made by allowing air to escape from the mouth, as opposed to the nose. To create an intended oral consonant sound, the entire mouth plays a role in modifying the air's passageway....
, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth.
It is a central consonant
Central consonant

A central or medial consonant is a consonant sound that is produced when air flows across the center of the mouth over the tongue.Examples of central consonants are the voiceless velar plosive , the voiced alveolar fricative and the alveolar nasal ....
, which means it is produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the tongue, rather than the sides.
The airstream mechanism
Airstream mechanism

In phonetics, the airstream mechanism is the method by which airflow is created in the vocal tract. Along with phonation, it is one of two mandatory aspects of sound production; without these, there can be no speech sound....
is pulmonic egressive, which means it is articulated by pushing air out of the lung
Lung

The lung is the essential respiration organ in air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located in the chest on either side of the heart....
s and through the vocal tract, rather than from the glottis
Glottis

The glottis defined as the combination of the vocal folds and the space in between the folds ....
or the mouth.

Acoustically, the formant

Formant

A formant is a peak in the frequency spectrum of a sound caused by Acoustics resonance. In phonetics, the word refers to sounds produced by the vocal tract....
s of are characterized by compressed f₁-f₃, particularly because of its low f₃ value. Its low f₃ values result from perturbations at three locations; rounded lips, alveolar constriction, and a constriction around the velum or pharynx. These constrictions cause perturbations at velocity maxima in the third harmonic of the voice signal, causing a sharp decrease in resonance frequency to below 1000 Hz.

Occurrence

Language		Word	Meaning	Notes
Armenian Armenian language The 'Armenian language' is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenians. It is the official language of the Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh....			'coffee'
Chukchi Chukchi language The Chukchi language also known as Luoravetlan, Chukot and Chukcha is a Palaeosiberian languages spoken by Chukchi people in the easternmost extremity of Siberia, mainly in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug....		????? Cyrillic alphabet The Cyrillic alphabet is a family of alphabets, subsets of which are used by five Slavic languages national languages as well as non-Slavic . It is also used by many other languages of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Siberia and other languages in the past....	'two'
Dutch Dutch language Dutch is a West Germanic languages spoken by over 22 million people as a first language, and about 5 million people as a second language."1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language speakers of Dutch is very small. Most native...			'work'	Some dialects. Most dialects use an alveolar trill Alveolar trill The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental consonant, alveolar consonant, and postalveolar consonant trill consonant is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r.... . See Dutch phonology Dutch phonology Dutch is a Germanic language and as such has a similar phonology to other Germanic languages . The Dutch as spoken in Haarlem is popularly said to be closest to northern ?Standard? Dutch, not the Amsterdam dialect....
English English language English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...			'red'	Most dialects. Some dialects use an alveolar trill Alveolar trill The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental consonant, alveolar consonant, and postalveolar consonant trill consonant is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r.... . See English phonology English phonology English phonology is the study of the phonology of the English language. Like all languages, spoken English has wide variation in its pronunciation both Historical linguistics and Descriptive linguistics from dialect to dialect....
Faroese Faroese language Faroese , often also spelled Faeroese , is a West Nordic or West Scandinavian language spoken by 48,000 people in the Faroe Islands and about 12,000 Faroese people in Denmark....			'rudder'
German German language German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....			'vine shoot'	Some dialects. Most dialects use a uvular trill Uvular trill The uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some Speech communication languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a small capital R.... . See German phonology German phonology This article is about the phonology of the German language based on the Standard German. It deals with current phonology and phonetics as well as with historical developments thereof, including geographical variants ....
Brazilian Portuguese Portuguese language Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and Portugal. It is derived from the Latin language spoken by the Romanization Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago....	Caipira Caipira Caipira is a Brazilian Portuguese term used to designate inhabitants of rural, remote areas of some Brazilian states---It refers to the people of lesser schooling....		'door'	See Portuguese phonology Portuguese phonology The phonology of Portuguese can vary considerably between dialects, in extreme cases leading to difficulties in intelligibility. This article focuses on the pronunciations that are generally regarded as standard....
	Paulistano		'door'
Vietnamese Vietnamese language Vietnamese , formerly known under French colonization as Annamese , is the national language and official language language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of the Vietnamese people , who constitute 86% of Demographics of Vietnam, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese, most of whom live in the United States....			'to clean Clean Clean is a phrase meaning Neatness and tidiness or Organizing.It may also refer to:* Clean Language is a questioning technique that is used especially in psychotherapy and coaching.... '	See Vietnamese phonology Vietnamese phonology This article is a technical description the sound system of the Vietnamese language, including phonetics and phonology....

Alveolar approximant

Features

Occurrence

See also