# Voiced alveolar and postalveolar approximants

The voiced alveolar approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the alveolar and postalveolar approximants is ⟨ɹ⟩, a lowercase letter r rotated 180 degrees. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r\.
The most common sound represented by the letter r in English is the voiced postalveolar approximant, pronounced a little more back and transcribed more precisely in IPA as ⟨ɹ̠⟩, but ⟨ɹ⟩ is often used for convenience in its place. For further ease of typesetting, English phonemic transcriptions might use the symbol ⟨r⟩ even though this symbol represents the alveolar trill in phonetic transcription.
The bunched or molar r sounds remarkably similar to the postalveolar approximant and can be described as a voiced labial pre-velar approximant with tongue-tip retraction. It can be transcribed in IPA as ⟨ψ⟩ or ⟨ɹ̈⟩.

## Features

Features of the voiced alveolar approximant:
* Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream.
* Its place of articulation is alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
* Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
* It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
* It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

## Occurrence
### Alveolar

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Albanian | unknown | gjelbër | [ˈɟʑɛlbəɹ] | 'green' | |
| Armenian | Classical | սուրճ | [suɹtʃ] | 'coffee' | |
| Assamese | Assamese | ৰঙা (rônga) | [ɹɔŋa] | 'red' | |
| Assyrian Neo-Aramaic | Alqosh dialect | ܪܒ | [ɹɑbɑ] | 'many' | Corresponds to /ɾ/ in most other Assyrian dialects. |
| Assyrian Neo-Aramaic | Tyari dialect | ܪܒ | [ɹɑbɑ] | 'many' | Corresponds to /ɾ/ in most other Assyrian dialects. |
| Bengali | | আবার | [abaɹ] | 'again' | Phonetic realisation of /r/, especially in some Eastern Dialects and sometimes in conjunct before consonants. Corresponds to [r ~ ɾ] in others. See Bengali phonology |
| Burmese | Burmese | ပရိဘောဂ | [pəɹḭbɔ́ɡa̰] | 'furniture' | Occurs only in loanwords, mostly from Pali or English. |
| Chukchi | Chukchi | ңирэк | [ŋiɹek] | 'two' | |
| Dahalo | Dahalo | [káð̠˕i] | [káð̠˕i] | 'work' | Apical. It is a common intervocalic allophone of /d̠/, and may be a weak fricative [ð̠] or simply a plosive [d] instead. |
| Danish | Standard | ved | [ve̝ð̠˕ˠ] | 'at' | Velarized and laminal; allophone of /d/ in the syllable coda. For a minority of speakers, it may be a non-sibilant fricative instead. See Danish phonology. |
| Dutch | Central Netherlandic | door | [doːɹ] | 'through' | Allophone of /r/ in the syllable coda for some speakers. See Dutch phonology. |
| Dutch | Western Netherlandic | door | [doːɹ] | 'through' | Allophone of /r/ in the syllable coda for some speakers. See Dutch phonology. |
| Dutch | Leiden | rat | [ɹat] | 'rat' | Corresponds to /r/ in other dialects. |
| Faroese | Faroese | róður | [ɹɔuwʊɹ] | 'rudder' | See Faroese phonology. |
| German | Moselle Franconian (Siegerland and Westerwald dialects) | Rebe | [ˈɹeːbə] | 'vine' | Most other dialects use a voiced uvular fricative [ʁ], a uvular trill [ʀ] or an alveolar trill [r]. See Standard German phonology. |
| German | Silesian | Rebe | [ˈɹeːbə] | 'vine' | Most other dialects use a voiced uvular fricative [ʁ], a uvular trill [ʀ] or an alveolar trill [r]. See Standard German phonology. |
| German | Upper Lusatian | Rebe | [ˈɹeːbə] | 'vine' | Most other dialects use a voiced uvular fricative [ʁ], a uvular trill [ʀ] or an alveolar trill [r]. See Standard German phonology. |
| Greek | Greek | μέρα méra | [ˈmɛɹɐ] | 'day' | Allophone of /ɾ/ in rapid or casual speech and between vowels. See Modern Greek phonology. |
| Icelandic | Icelandic | bróðir | [ˈprou̯ð̠˕ir] | 'brother' | Usually apical. See Icelandic phonology. |
| Limburgish | Montfortian dialect | maintenant | [ˈmæ̃ːn˦ð̠˕ənɑ̃ː˨] | 'now' | |
| Persian | Persian | فارسی | [fɒːɹˈsiː] | 'Persian' | Allophone of /ɾ/ before /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, and /l/. See Persian phonology. |
| Portuguese | Multiple Brazilian dialects, mostly inland Centro-Sul | amor | [aˈmoɹˠ] | 'love' | Allophone of /ɾ ~ ʁ/ in the syllable coda. Velarized, may also be retroflex, post-alveolar and/or a rhotic vowel. See Portuguese phonology. |
| Spanish | Andalusian | doscientos | [do̞(ɹ)ˈθje̞n̪t̪o̞s] | 'two hundred' | Allophone of /s/ before [θ]. See Spanish phonology. |
| Spanish | Belizean | invierno | [imˈbjeɹno] | 'winter' | Possible realization of /r/ in the syllable coda due to English influence. |
| Spanish | Caribbean Colombian | invierno | [imˈbjeɹno] | 'winter' | Possible realization of /r/ in the syllable coda due to English influence. |
| Spanish | Puerto Rican | invierno | [imˈbjeɹno] | 'winter' | Possible realization of /r/ in the syllable coda due to English influence. |
| Spanish | Costa Rican | carro | ˈkaɹo | 'car' | Allophone of /r/, and of /ɾ/ after /t/. See Costa Rican Spanish. |
| Swedish | Central Standard | starkast | [ˈs̪t̪äɹːkäs̪t̪] | 'strongest' | Allophone of /r/. Some speakers have [ɾ] ([r] when geminated) in all positions. See Swedish phonology. |
| Tagalog | Tagalog | parang | [paɹaŋ] | 'like-' | Allophone of the more usual and traditional flap or trill [ɾ ~ r] and is sometimes thus pronounced by some younger speakers due to exposure to mainstream English. |
| Turkish | Marmara Region | artık | [aɹtɯk] | 'excess, surplus' | Occurs as an allophone of [ɾ] in syllable coda, in free variation with post-alveolar [ɹ̠]. See Turkish phonology. |
| Vietnamese | Saigon | ra | [ɹa] | 'go out' | In free variation with [ɾ], [r] and [ʐ]. See Vietnamese phonology. |
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan | rdɨ | [ɹd̪ɨ] | 'pass' | Allophone of /ɾ/ before consonants. |

### Postalveolar

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| English | Australian | red | [ɹ̠ʷed] | 'red' | Often labialized. May also be a labialized retroflex approximant. For convenience it is often transcribed ⟨r⟩. See Australian English phonology, English phonology, Rhoticity in English and Pronunciation of English /r/. |
| English | Most American dialects | red | | 'red' | Often labialized. May also be a labialized retroflex approximant. For convenience it is often transcribed ⟨r⟩. See Australian English phonology, English phonology, Rhoticity in English and Pronunciation of English /r/. |
| English | Received Pronunciation | red | | 'red' | Often labialized. May also be a labialized retroflex approximant. For convenience it is often transcribed ⟨r⟩. See Australian English phonology, English phonology, Rhoticity in English and Pronunciation of English /r/. |
| Igbo | Igbo | rí | [ɹ̠í] | 'eat' | |
| Malay | Malay | راتوس / ratus | [ɹ̠ä.tos] | 'hundred' | More commonly trill [r] or flap [ɾ]. See Malay phonology |
| Maltese | Some dialects | malajr | [mɐˈlɐjɹ̠] | 'quickly' | Corresponds to [ɾ ~ r] in other dialects. |
| Shipibo | Shipibo | roro | [ˈd̠ɹ̠o̽ɾ̠o̽] | 'to break into pieces' | Pre-stopped. Possible word-initial realization of /r/. |
As an allophone of other rhotic sounds, [ɹ] occurs in Edo, Fula, Murrinh-patha, and Palauan.