A small capital "R" symbolises the uvular
trill, and the same letter upside down stands for a voiced uvular
fricative/approximant. Somewhat loosely, it may also be used for other dorsal
rhotics, e.g. the velar fricative/approximant (the correct IPA
symbol resembles a small Greek "gamma"). Some velar and uvular sounds are
phonologically ambiguous -- in different systems they may _function_ as rhotics
or as fricatives (likewise, apical taps or flaps may function as rhotics or as
stops), and phoneticians tend to use symbols resembling the letter "r" for any
"functional rhotic".
The proper retroflex approximant
symbol is an upside-down "r" with a right-bending "underhook". A plain
uside-down "r" stands for an alveolar or postalveolar non-sibilant fricative or
frictionless continuant (approximant).
Piotr
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2001 2:00 AM
Subject: Re: [tied] Re: uvular R
In Terry Crowley's "An Introduction to Historical
Linguistics" there's a
chart of phonetical symbols.
The vibrant sounds
showed are:
alveolar flap: an odd symbol, like a "I" with a little hook in
the tip.
retroflex flap: a "r" with an appendix denoting
retroflexion
alveolar trill : the usual "r"
retroflex glide : an
upside-down "r"
this chart doesnt shows the uvular r, but in the book
it's depicted as an
upside-down "R".