R-colored vowel

This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (November 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

R-colored vowel
◌˞
ɚ
ɝ
ɹ̩
ɻ̍
IPA Number	327
Audio sample
help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	˞
Unicode (hex)	U+02DE
X-SAMPA	@`
Image

Sound sample regular and r-colored schwa

---

Problems playing this file? See media help.

An r-colored or rhotic vowel (also called a retroflex vowel, vocalic r, or a rhotacized vowel) is a

In the IPA, an r-colored vowel is indicated by a hook diacritic ⟨ ˞ ⟩ placed to the right of the regular symbol for the vowel. For example, the IPA symbol for schwa is ⟨ə⟩, while the IPA symbol for an r-colored schwa is ⟨ɚ⟩. Similarly, the IPA symbol for the open-mid central unrounded vowel is ⟨ɜ⟩, while an r-colored open-mid central unrounded vowel is ⟨ɝ⟩. This diacritic is the hook of ⟨ɚ⟩ or ⟨ɝ⟩, symbols constructed by John Samuel Kenyon along with ⟨ᶔ⟩ by adding the retroflex hook (right hook) to ⟨ə⟩ and ⟨ɜ⟩.^[5] Both ⟨ɚ⟩ and ⟨ɝ⟩ were proposed as IPA symbols by the editors of American Speech in 1939 to distinguish it from [əɹ].^[6]

The IPA adopted several ways to transcribe r-colored vowels in its 1947 chart: the turned r ⟨ɹ⟩; the superscript turned r ⟨əʴ⟩, ⟨aʴ⟩, ⟨eʴ⟩, ⟨ɔʴ⟩, etc.; the retroflex hook ⟨ᶕ⟩, ⟨ᶏ⟩, ⟨ᶒ⟩, ⟨ᶗ⟩, etc.;

Comparison of hiatus, consonantal /r/, and r-colored vowels in American English

---

Problems playing this file? See media help.

R-colored vowels are found in most rhotic forms of English, including

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 [ɑɚ] or [ɑɹ], rather than the unitary symbol [ɑ˞].[12]

Singing

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]} Certain post-grunge singers 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]}

Mandarin Chinese

In

In Quebec French, the vowel /œ̃/ is generally pronounced [œ̃˞] and the r-colored vowels are also pronounced in loan words.^{[citation needed]} For example, the word hamburger can be pronounced [ambɚɡɚ], the word soccer can be pronounced [sɒkɚ] etc.

Other examples

In the 1930s the

Look up R-coloured vowel in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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

References