The R-Sound
Today, we’re going to discuss the R-sound.
Now first off, there are actually a lot of different versions of what we call the R-sound.
We’ll talk about the one that is most represented in English.
The IPA symbol is a lowercase letter ‘r’ rotated 180 degrees - /ɹ/
The location is either alveolar or slightly further back in the post-alveolar space.
THE SOUND
The English R-sound /ɹ/ is a voiced alveolar or post-alveolar approximant. It is voiced so your vocal cords are vibrating. The place of articulation is the alveolar ridge or slightly further back, so the ridge behind the top teeth is an area of focus.
It is an approximant so narrowing occurs but it is NOT turbulent, simply slight narrowing.
What is important to recognize is that the English R-sound is NOT the same as the Spanish, Italian or Russian. It is in fact a different sound altogether. The R-sound in these languages is known as a trilled R-sound. English does not have this sound. As a result, native English speakers recognize the trilled R-sound as your attempt at an English R.
Verbal cues
To produce the /ɹ/ sound, curl your tongue near the roof of your mouth. You are aiming for the tip of your tongue to be right behind the little ridge behind your teeth or curled further back closer to the post-alveolar space. But remember, it does not actually touch any part of the mouth.
The tongue is pulled back and bunched up, with easy airflow over top and around edges of the tongue.
You may feel the back sides of your tongue flatten and raise to lightly touch the back teeth along the sides of your mouth.
Visual Cues
From the outside, you won’t necessarily see any key features to recognize the mouth shape.
Tactile Cues
Remember that the English R-sound is a sound shaped primarily by the tongue position and shape. It does not actually contact the roof of the mouth or along the gums or teeth.
So if you notice contact between the tongue tip with the roof of the mouth, tongue or gums, you are not getting the right sound.
THE SOUND IN DIFFERENT POSITIONS.
Here's the sound in different positions of a word.
BEGINNING OF THE WORD - room, red, rail, rule, rain, wrestle, wrote
MIDDLE OF THE WORD - around, carpet, terror, performance
END OF THE WORD - for, brother, care, poor,
SITUATIONS THAT SEEM LIKE THE SOUND BUT AREN'T
Depending on which English-speaking country you are in, it will determine whether the R-letter is silent. English speaking countries or regions can be categorized as rhotic or non-rhotic R countries.
If you live in a rhotic R-region, all R-letters are pronounced with a ‘hard’ and clear R sound
If you live in a non-rhotic R-region, sometimes the R-letter is not pronounced. Speakers drop the R-sound in words when it follows AFTER a vowel in a syllable. ‘farm’ —> ‘fahm’, ‘car’ —> ‘cah’. And sentences like ‘Park the car in Harvard yard’ —> ‘pahk the cah in hahvahd yahd’
SITUATIONS THAT SEEM LIKE THEY AREN’T THE SOUND BUT ARE
Febuary - There are some situations where the R-sound should be clearly enunciated but it isn’t. Even more, it’s acceptable and common enough that this mispronunciation is okay. February is one such case.
Intrusive R-sound - There arer situations where the R-sound is produced even if there is no R-letter present. Particularly noted in non-Rhotic English dialects, in-between two words where the first word ends in a non-high vowel and the second word starts with a vowel, you may seem to hear an R-sound (we’ll talk about high and non-high vowels in the upcoming vowel section). This is a normal occurrence in English speech, and occurs as a natural process out of convenience to transition between these two vowel sounds.
A sort of lazy transition mouth shape to get from one vowel to another vowel more smoothly. This transition just happens to be a R-sound.
Some example phrases include ‘The idea of it’ —> ‘The idea rof it’, ‘bacteria in it’ —> ‘bacteria rin it’, and **‘saw a film today’ —> ‘saw-r-a film today’.
WHY IT MAY BE HARD
Rhotic R and Non-Rhotic R
Depending on which English-speaking country you live in, silent R’s will exist.
Most English accents in England, Wales, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are considered ‘non-rhotic’. This means, they contain silent R-letters.
Most accents in the USA, Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland have rhotic-R. This means every R-letter is pronounced. There isn’t a silent R-letter situation.
This also touches on the idea that learning a ‘correct’ English accent is actually more about learning the regional accent of English where you live. Cause learning the American English accent is still going to make you stand out if you live in the UK.
Trilled R
Many languages do not have the English R-sound. Instead, they have a trilled R. The trilled R involves your tongue actually touching behind the teeth rapidly like a vibration.
Although another version of the R-sound that is used in other languages, it doesn’t exist in English. This means that English listeners will know you are trying to make an R-sound.
But, if you want to make the English R-sound, remember that the tongue tip doesn’t touch the roof of the mouth or teeth at all.
This also touches on the idea that practicing your English accent can be for comprehensibility or for accuracy. The trilled R is fine for comprehensibility. People will still understand you. But if you are a stickler for what is accurately consistent with native English speakers, there is no trilled R sound.
WHAT TO DO
So let's say you do have trouble with your R-sound. What can you do about it.
Well, here are the features of the R-sound.
Place of articulation - Along the alveolar ridge (the ridge behind your top teeth) or just slightly further back in the post-alveolar space. Your tongue should not contact the alveolar ridge or roof of mouth. It may slightly curl or bunch at the tongue tip.
Manner of articulation - Approximation. Airflow is continuous and escapes around and over the tongue. It is not turbulent. The sound keeps coming out as long as you have air from the lungs to continue the airflow.
Voiced or unvoiced - voiced (this means the vocal cords vibrate while producing the R-sound).
I’m breaking down every single sound down for you so that you can learn how to produce each sound in English accurately. Sometimes, we’ll have easier sounds and sometimes we’ll have harder sounds.
If you’ve grasped this sound, then great! But if you’ve got a tip that might work for others, or you took a while to produce this sound correct but something clicked for you, let me know down below in the comments. My goal is to have a community know what to do when they’re stuck!
