# Voiced uvular fricative

The voiced uvular fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ʁ⟩, an inverted small uppercase letter ⟨ʀ⟩, or in broad transcription ⟨r⟩ if rhotic. This consonant is one of the several collectively called guttural R when found in European languages.
The voiced uvular approximant is also found interchangeably with the fricative, and may also be transcribed as ⟨ʁ⟩. Because the IPA symbol stands for the uvular fricative, the approximant may be specified by adding the downtack: ⟨ʁ̞⟩, though some writings use a superscript ⟨ʶ⟩, which is not an official IPA practice.
For a voiced pre-uvular fricative (also called post-velar), see voiced velar fricative.

## Features

Features of the voiced uvular fricative:
* Its manner of articulation is fricative, which means it is produced by constricting air flow through a narrow channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence. In many languages it is closer to an approximant, however, and no language distinguishes the two at the uvular articulation.
* Its place of articulation is uvular, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the uvula.
* 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

In Western Europe, a uvular trill pronunciation of rhotic consonants spread from northern French to several dialects and registers of Basque, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, German, Judaeo-Spanish, Norwegian, Occitan, Portuguese, Swedish, some variants of Low Saxon, and Yiddish. However, not all of them remain a uvular trill today. In Brazilian Portuguese, it is usually a velar fricative ([x], [ɣ]), voiceless uvular fricative [χ], or glottal transition ([h], [ɦ]), except in southern Brazil, where alveolar, velar and uvular trills as well as the voiced uvular fricative predominate. Because such uvular rhotics often do not contrast with alveolar ones, IPA transcriptions may often use ⟨r⟩ to represent them for ease of typesetting. For more information, see guttural R.
Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996) note, "There is... a complication in the case of uvular fricatives in that the shape of the vocal tract may be such that the uvula vibrates."
It is also present in most Turkic languages, except for Turkish, and in Caucasian languages. It could also come in ɣ.
| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Abkhaz | Abkhaz | цыҕ cëğ | [tsəʁ] | 'marten' | See Abkhaz phonology |
| Adyghe | Adyghe | тыгъэ / tëğa / تہغە | | 'sun' | |
| Afrikaans | Parts of the former Cape Province | rooi | [ʁoːi̯] | 'red' | May be a trill [ʀ] instead. See Afrikaans phonology |
| Albanian | Arbëresh Some Moresian accents | vëlla | [vʁa] | 'brother' | May be pronounced as a normal double l. Sometimes, the guttural r is present in words starting with g in some dialects. |
| Aleut | Atkan dialect | chamĝul | [tʃɑmʁul] | 'to wash' | |
| Arabic | Modern Standard | غرفة ġurfa | [ˈʁʊrfɐ] | 'room' | Mostly transcribed as /ɣ/, may be velar, post-velar or uvular, depending on dialect. See Arabic phonology |
| Archi | Archi | гъӀабос ġabos | [ʁˤabos] | 'croak' | Pharyngealized. |
| Armenian | Armenian | ղեկ ġek | | 'rudder' | |
| Asturian language | Asturian language | | | | Most common allophone of /g/. May be an approximant. |
| Avar | Avar | тIагъур / thaġur / طاغۇر | [tʼaˈʁur] | 'cap' | |
| Azerbaijani | Southern dialects such as in Maragha, Malekan, Binab, Ajab shir and leylan counties of East Azerbaijan, and Chaharburj, Miyandoab alongside Baruq in West Azerbaijan | yeralma/یئرآلما | [yeʁɑlma] | 'potato' | Unlike many of Turkic dialects that have solely adapted the pronunciation of <r> into a voiced alveolar trill , these dialects often use voiced uvular fricative or they might use close-mid back unrounded vowel almost entirely in their speeches as an equivalent of r. it also has to be noted that this is not the same as voiced velar fricative which is to be resembled with ğ . |
| Bashkir | Bashkir | туғыҙ / tuğıđ / توعئذ | | 'nine' | |
| Basque | Northern dialects | urre | [uʁe] | 'gold' | |
| Chilcotin | Chilcotin | relkɨsh | [ʁəlkɪʃ] | 'he walks' | |
| Danish | Standard | rød | [ʁ̞œ̠ð̠] | 'red' | Most often an approximant when initial. In other positions, it can be either a fricative (also described as voiceless [χ]) or an approximant. Also described as pharyngeal [ʕ̞]. It can be a fricative trill in word-initial positions when emphasizing a word. See Danish phonology |
| Dutch | Belgian Limburg | rad | [ʁɑt] | 'wheel' | Either a fricative or an approximant. Realization of /r/ varies considerably among dialects. See Dutch phonology |
| Dutch | Central Netherlands | rad | [ʁɑt] | 'wheel' | Either a fricative or an approximant. Realization of /r/ varies considerably among dialects. See Dutch phonology |
| Dutch | East Flanders | rad | [ʁɑt] | 'wheel' | Either a fricative or an approximant. Realization of /r/ varies considerably among dialects. See Dutch phonology |
| Dutch | Northern Netherlands | rad | [ʁɑt] | 'wheel' | Either a fricative or an approximant. Realization of /r/ varies considerably among dialects. See Dutch phonology |
| Dutch | Randstad | rad | [ʁɑt] | 'wheel' | Either a fricative or an approximant. Realization of /r/ varies considerably among dialects. See Dutch phonology |
| Dutch | Southern Netherlands | rad | [ʁɑt] | 'wheel' | Either a fricative or an approximant. Realization of /r/ varies considerably among dialects. See Dutch phonology |
| English | Dyfed | red | [ʁɛd] | 'red' | Not all speakers. Alveolar in other Welsh accents. |
| English | Gwynedd | red | [ʁɛd] | 'red' | Not all speakers. Alveolar in other Welsh accents. |
| English | North-east Leinster | red | [ʁɛd] | 'red' | Corresponds to [ɹ ~ ɾ ~ ɻ] in other dialects of English in Ireland. |
| English | Northumbrian | red | [ʁɛd] | 'red' | Described both as a fricative and an approximant. More rarely it is a trill [ʀ]. Mostly found in rural areas of Northumberland and northern County Durham, declining. See English phonology and Northumbrian Burr. |
| English | Sierra Leonean | red | [ʁɛd] | 'red' | More rarely a trill [ʀ]. |
| French | French | rester | | 'to stay' | See French phonology |
| German | Standard | Rost | [ʁɔstʰ] | 'rust' | Either a fricative or, more often, an approximant. In free variation with a uvular trill. See Standard German phonology |
| German | Lower Rhine | Rost | [ʁɔstʰ] | 'rust' | Either a fricative or, more often, an approximant. In free variation with a uvular trill. See Standard German phonology |
| German | Swabian | Rost | [ʁ̞oʃt] | 'rust' | An approximant. It is the realization of /ʁ/ in onsets, otherwise it is an epiglottal approximant. |
| Gondi | Hill-Maṛia | pār̥- | [paːʁ-] | 'to sing' | Corresponds to /r/ or /ɾ/ in other Gondi dialects. |
| Hebrew | Modern | עוֹרֵב | [ʔoˈʁ̞ev] | 'crow' | See Modern Hebrew phonology. |
| Inuktitut | East Inuktitut dialect | marruuk | [mɑʁːuːk] | 'two' | |
| Italian | Some speakers | raro | [ˈʁäːʁo] | 'rare' | Rendition alternative to the standard Italian alveolar trill [r], due to individual orthoepic defects and/or regional variations that make the alternative sound more prevalent, notably in Alto Adige (bordering with German-speaking Austria), Val d'Aosta (bordering with France) and in parts of the Parma province, more markedly around Fidenza. Other alternative sounds may be a uvular trill [ʀ] or a labiodental approximant [ʋ]. See Italian phonology. |
| Kabardian | Kabardian | бгъэ / bğa / بغە | | 'eagle' | |
| Kabyle | Kabyle | ⴱⴻⵖ bbeɣ بغ | [bːəʁ] | 'to dive' | |
| Kazakh | Kazakh | саған / sağan / ساعان | [sɑˈʁɑn] | 'to you' | |
| Kyrgyz | Kyrgyz | жамгыр / camğır' / جامعىر | [dʒɑmˈʁɯr] | 'rain' | |
| Lakota | Lakota | aǧúyapi | [aʁʊjapɪ] | 'bread' | |
| Limburgish | Maastrichtian | drei | [dʀ̝ɛi̯] | 'three' | Fricative trill; the fricative component varies between uvular and post-velar. See Maastrichtian dialect phonology and Weert dialect phonology |
| Limburgish | Weert dialect | drej | [dʀ̝æj] | 'three' | Fricative trill; the fricative component varies between uvular and post-velar. See Maastrichtian dialect phonology and Weert dialect phonology |
| Luxembourgish | Luxembourgish | Parmesan | [ˈpʰɑʁməzaːn] | 'Parmesan' | Appears as an allophone of /ʀ/ between a vowel and a voiced consonant and as an allophone of /ʁ/ between a back vowel and another vowel (back or otherwise). A minority of speakers use it as the only consonantal variety of /ʀ/ (in a complementary distribution with [χ]), also where it is trilled in the standard language. See Luxembourgish phonology |
| Malay | Perak dialect | Perak | [peʁɑk̚] | 'Perak' | See Malay phonology |
| Malto | Malto | पोग़े | [poʁe] | 'smoke' | May be a stop [ɢ] instead. |
| Minangkabau | Kampar dialect | bagheh | [baʁeh] | 'rice' | |
| Norwegian | Southern dialects | rar | [ʁ̞ɑːʁ̞] | 'strange' | Either an approximant or a fricative. See Norwegian phonology |
| Norwegian | Southwestern dialects | rar | [ʁ̞ɑːʁ̞] | 'strange' | Either an approximant or a fricative. See Norwegian phonology |
| Toba qom | Takshek dialect | Awogoyk | [awoʁojk] | 'moon' | |
| Tundra Nenets | Some speakers | вара | [waʁa] | 'goose' | |
| Ossetic | Iron | æгъгъæд æğğæd | [ˈəʁːəd] | 'enough' | |
| Portuguese | European | carro | [ˈkaʁu] | 'car' | Word-initial /ʁ/ is commonly realized as a uvular trill [ʀ] in Lisbon. See Portuguese phonology |
| Portuguese | Setubalense | ruralizar | [ʁuʁɐɫiˈzaʁ] | 'to ruralize' | Outcome of a merger of /ɾ/ with /ʁ/, which is unique in the Lusophone world. Often trilled instead. |
| Portuguese | Fluminense | ardência | [ɐʁˈdẽsjə] | 'burning feeling' | Due to 19th century Portuguese influence, Rio de Janeiro's dialect merged coda /ɾ/ into /ʁ/. Often trilled. In free variation with [ɣ], [ʕ] and [ɦ] before voiced sounds, [x], [χ], [ħ] and [h] before voiceless consonants |
| Portuguese | Sulista | arroz | [ɐˈʁos] | 'rice' | Due to 19th century Portuguese influence, Rio de Janeiro's dialect merged coda /ɾ/ into /ʁ/. Often trilled. In free variation with [ɣ], [ʕ] and [ɦ] before voiced sounds, [x], [χ], [ħ] and [h] before voiceless consonants |
| Spanish | Puerto Rican | carro | [ˈkaʁo] | 'car' | Word-initial, and inter-vocallic double r ('rr') /r/ are commonly realized as a fricative trill in rural sectors and generally (but not exclusively) lower socioeconomic strata among Puerto Ricans. [ʁ]. |
| Spanish | As spoken in Asturias | gusano | [ʁ̞uˈsano] | 'worm' | Most common allophone of /g/. May also be an approximant. |
| Swedish | Southern dialects | rör | [ʁɶʁ] | 'pipe(s)' | See Swedish phonology |
| Tatar | Tatar | яңгыр, yañğır, ياڭگئر | [jɒŋˈʁɯr] | 'rain' | |
| Turkmen | Turkmen | aɡyr / آغیٛر | [ɑʁɨɾ] | 'heavy' | An allophone of /ɣ/ next to back vowels |
| Tsez | Tsez | агъи aɣi | [ˈʔaʁi] | 'bird' | |
| Ubykh | Ubykh | [ʁa] | [ʁa] | 'his' | Ubykh has ten different uvular fricatives. See Ubykh phonology |
| Uyghur | Uyghur | ئۇيغۇر / Уйғур | [ʊjʁʊr] | 'Uyghur' | |
| Uzbek | Uzbek | ogʻir / оғир / اۉغیر | [ɒˈʁɨr] | 'heavy' | |
| West Flemish | Bruges dialect | onder | [ˈuŋəʀ̝] | 'under' | A fricative trill with little friction. An alveolar [r] is used in the neighbouring rural area. |
| Yakut | Yakut | тоҕус toğus | [toʁus] | 'nine' | |
| Yi | Yi | Ğņyņə | [ʁŋêŋĕ] | 'twenty' | A fricative or approximant. |
| Yiddish | Yiddish | רעגן | ˈʁɛɡŋ | 'rain' | See Yiddish phonology |
| Zhuang | Zhuang | roek | ʁɔ̌k | 'six' | |