Voiced retroflex fricative

Voiced retroflex non-sibilant fricative
Voiced retroflex non-sibilant fricative
ɻ˔
ɖ˕
IPA number	152 429
Audio sample
	source · help
Encoding
X-SAMPA	r\`_r

Voiced retroflex fricative
Voiced retroflex fricative
ʐ
IPA number	137
Audio sample
	source · help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ʐ
Unicode (hex)	U+0290
X-SAMPA	z`
Braille
Image

The voiced retroflex sibilant fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ʐ⟩. Like all the retroflex consonants, the IPA symbol is formed by adding a rightward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of a z (the letter used for the corresponding alveolar consonant).

Features

Features of the voiced retroflex sibilant:

Its manner of articulation is sibilant fricative, which means it is generally produced by channeling air flow along a groove in the back of the tongue up to the place of articulation, at which point it is focused against the sharp edge of the nearly clenched teeth, causing high-frequency turbulence.
Its place of articulation is retroflex, which prototypically means it is articulated subapical (with the tip of the tongue curled up), but more generally, it means that it is postalveolar without being palatalized. That is, besides the prototypical subapical articulation, the tongue can be apical (pointed) or, in some fricatives, laminal (flat).
Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
It is an oral consonant, which means that air is exclusively allowed to escape through the mouth.
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 the following transcriptions, diacritics may be used to distinguish between apical [ʐ̺] and laminal [ʐ̻].

The commonality of [ʐ] cross-linguistically is 2% in a phonological analysis of 2155 languages.^[1]

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abkhaz		абжа/abža	[ˈabʐa]	'half'	See Abkhaz phonology
Adyghe		жъы / jı / ظہـ	[ʐ̻ə]^ⓘ	'old'	Laminal.
Awetí^[2]		[pɨtiˈʐɨk˺]		'to pray'	Diachronically related to [ɾ] and also to some other alveolar sounds in certain occasions. As word lists created in the 1900s appoint for [ɾ] where there is [ʐ] now, the latter sound is supposed to be the result of a very recent sound change that is analogically happening in Waurá.^[2]
Chinese	Mandarin	肉/ròu	[ʐoʊ̯˥˩]^ⓘ	'meat'	Also transcribed as a retroflex approximant [ɻ] depending on accent and dialect. See Mandarin phonology.
Chinese	Changshu dialect	常熟	/dʐan ʐɔʔ/ [tʂʱä̃233 ʐɔʔ23] (without tone sandhi)	'Changshu'	Pronounced [ʂʱ] when occurring at the first syllable. A native Wu Chinese speaker may reduce it a sound closer to a retroflex approximant [ɻ] (similar to the Standard Mandarin r) when trying to force a unnatural voiced pronunciation on the first syllable.
Faroese		renn	[ʐɛn]	'run'
Lower Sorbian^[3]^[4]		Łužyca	[ˈwuʐɨt͡sa]	'Lusatia'
Mapudungun^[5]		rayen	[ʐɜˈjën]	'flower'	May be [ɻ] or [ɭ] instead.^[5]
Marrithiyel	Marri Tjevin dialect	[wiˈɲaʐu]		'they are laughing'	Voicing is non-contrastive.
Mehináku^[6]		[ɨˈʐũte]		'parrot'	Resulted from the voicing of /ʂ/ in between vowels.^[6]
Pashto	Southern dialect	تږى/tâjai‎	[ˈtəʐai]	'thirsty'	See Pashto phonology
Polish	Standard^[7]	żona	[ˈʐ̻ɔn̪ä]^ⓘ	'wife'	Also represented orthographically by ⟨rz⟩ and, when written so, may be instead pronounced as the raised alveolar non-sonorant trill by few speakers.^[8] It is transcribed as /ʒ/ by most Polish scholars. See Polish phonology
	Southeastern Cuyavian dialects^[9]	zapłacił	[ʐäˈpwät͡ɕiw]	'he paid'	Some speakers. It is a result of hypercorrecting the more popular merger of /ʐ/ and /z/ into [z] (see Szadzenie).
	Suwałki dialect^[10]	zapłacił	[ʐäˈpwät͡ɕiw]	'he paid'
Romagnol		diṣ	[ˈdiːʐ]	'ten'	Apical; may be [z̺ʲ] or [ʒ] instead.
Russian	Standard^[7]	жена/žená	[ʐɨ̞ˈna]^ⓘ	'wife'	Concave apical postalveolar, no true subapicality as expected from retroflexes.^[11] Tend to be labialised and/ or velarised.^[12] See Russian phonology
Russian	Most speakers in most words	заезжа́ть/zajezžátʹ	[zə(j)ɪˈʐːatʲ]^ⓘ	'to drive into/ to call in casually'	Modern pronunciation of older /ʑː/ often derived from underlying /zʐ/ or /sʐ/. Subsists as such in some words for conservative Moskovite accents.^[12]
Serbo-Croatian		жут / žut	[ʐûːt̪]	'yellow'	Typically transcribed as /ʒ/. See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Shina	Gilgiti^[13]	ڙَکُݨ / ẓakuṇ	[ʐəkuɳ]	'donkey'
Shina	Kohistani	ڙَکُݨ / ẓakuṇ	[ʐəkuɳ]	'donkey'
Slovak^[14]		žaba	[ˈʐäbä]	'frog'
Spanish	Andean	hacer	[a'seʐ]	'do'	The phoneme /r/ changes to [ʐ], when it is at the end of a syllable
Spanish	Andean	marrón, ratón	[maˈʐon], [ʐa'ton]	'brown', 'mouse'	See Spanish phonology
Swedish	Central dialects^[15]	rå	[ʐo̞ə̰̑˧˥˨]^ⓘ	'raw'	Apical. Allophone of rhotic, may also be pronounced [ɹ], [r] or [ɾ].^[15]^[16] See Swedish phonology
Taruma^[17]		hoza	[ˈho.ʐa]	'rain'	Main allophone of a marginal retroflex phoneme, with [ɖʐ] as quasi-allohpone word initially before /ɨ/.^[17]
Tilquiapan Zapotec^[18]		?	[ʐan]	'bottom'
Torwali^[19]		ݜوڙ	[ʂuʐ]	'straight'
Ubykh		[ʐa]		'firewood'	See Ubykh phonology
Ukrainian		жaбa/žaba	[ˈʐɑbɐ]	'frog'	See Ukrainian phonology
Upper Sorbian	Some dialects^[20]^[21]	^{[example needed]}			Used in dialects spoken in villages north of Hoyerswerda; corresponds to [ʒ] in the standard language.^[3]
Yi		ꏜ ry	[ʐʐ̩˧]	'grass'

Voiced retroflex non-sibilant fricative

Features

Features of the voiced retroflex non-sibilant 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.
Its place of articulation is retroflex, which prototypically means it is articulated subapical (with the tip of the tongue curled up), but more generally, it means that it is postalveolar without being palatalized. That is, besides the prototypical subapical articulation, the tongue can be apical (pointed) or, in some fricatives, laminal (flat).
Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
It is an oral consonant, which means that air is exclusively allowed to escape through the mouth.
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

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
English	Eastern Cape^[22]	red	[ɻ˔ed]	'red'	Apical; typical realization of /r/ in that region.^[22] See South African English phonology

Citations

^ Phoible.org. (2018). PHOIBLE Online – Segments. [online] Available at: http://phoible.org/parameters.
^ ^a ^b Drude (2020), p. 190.
^ ^a ^b Šewc-Schuster (1984:40–41)
^ Zygis (2003:180–181, 190–191)
^ ^a ^b Sadowsky et al. (2013), p. 90.
^ ^a ^b Felipe (2020), pp. 87–89.
^ ^a ^b Hamann (2004:65)
^ "Gwary polskie – Frykatywne rż (ř)". Archived from the original on 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2013-11-06.
^ "Gwary polskie – Gwara regionu". www.gwarypolskie.uw.edu.pl. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
^ "Gwary polskie – Szadzenie". www.gwarypolskie.uw.edu.pl. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
^ Hamann (2004:56, 64)
^ ^a ^b Yanushevskaya, Irena; Bunčić, Daniel (2015), "Russian" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 45 (2): 224, doi:10.1017/S0025100314000395
^ Ziya, Muhammad Amin (2010). ݜِناٗ - اُردو لغت [Gilti Shina Urdu Dictionary] (in Urdu). Gilgit: Zia Publications. ISBN 978-969-942-00-8-. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help)
^ Hanulíková & Hamann (2010:374)
^ ^a ^b Elert, Claes-Christian (2000). Allmän och svensk fonetik [General and Swedish phonetics] (in Swedish) (8 ed.). Stockholm: Norstedts. p. ?. ISBN 91-1-300939-7.
^ Andersson, Erik (2002). "Swedish". In König, Ekkehard; van der Auwera, Johan (eds.). The Germanic Languages. Routledge language family descriptions. Routledge. p. 273. ISBN 0-415-28079-6.
^ ^a ^b Serke, Anna (2022). A description of Taruma phonology (Master thesis). Leiden: Universiteit Leiden. pp. 26–27. Archived from the original on 14 July 2025.
^ Merrill (2008:109)
^ Lunsford (2001:16–20)
^ Šewc-Schuster (1984:41)
^ Zygis (2003:180)
^ ^a ^b Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:165)

References

Hamann, Silke (2004), "Retroflex fricatives in Slavic languages" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (1): 53–67, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001604, S2CID 2224095
Hanulíková, Adriana; Hamann, Silke (2010), "Slovak" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 40 (3): 373–378, doi:10.1017/S0025100310000162
Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19815-6.
Lunsford, Wayne A. (2001), "An overview of linguistic structures in Torwali, a language of Northern Pakistan" (PDF), M.A. Thesis, University of Texas at Arlington
Merrill, Elizabeth (2008), "Tilquiapan Zapotec" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 38 (1): 107–114, doi:10.1017/S0025100308003344, archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-12-16, retrieved 2016-02-12
Sadowsky, Scott; Painequeo, Héctor; Salamanca, Gastón; Avelino, Heriberto (2013), "Mapudungun", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (1): 87–96, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000369
Šewc-Schuster, Hinc (1984), Gramatika hornjo-serbskeje rěče, Budyšin: Ludowe nakładnistwo Domowina
Zygis, Marzena (2003), "Phonetic and Phonological Aspects of Slavic Sibilant Fricatives", ZAS Papers in Linguistics, 3: 175–213, doi:10.21248/zaspil.32.2003.191
Drude, Sebastian (2020), "A Fonologia do Awetí", Revista Brasileira de Línguas Indígenas (in Brazilian Portuguese), 3 (2): 190, doi:10.18468/rbli.2020v3n2.p183-205, S2CID 234223262
Felipe, Paulo Henrique Pereira Silva de (2020), Fonologia e morfossintaxe da língua mehináku (arawak) (Thesis), pp. 87–89, hdl:20.500.12733/1640175

External links

List of languages with [ʐ] on PHOIBLE

[1] Phoible.org. (2018). PHOIBLE Online – Segments. [online] Available at: http://phoible.org/parameters.

[FOOTNOTEDrude2020190-2] Drude (2020), p. 190.

[sewc-3] Šewc-Schuster (1984:40–41)

[4] Zygis (2003:180–181, 190–191)

[FOOTNOTESadowskyPainequeoSalamancaAvelino201390-5] Sadowsky et al. (2013), p. 90.

[FOOTNOTEFelipe202087–89-6] Felipe (2020), pp. 87–89.

[Hamann-7] Hamann (2004:65)

[8] "Gwary polskie – Frykatywne rż (ř)". Archived from the original on 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2013-11-06.

[9] "Gwary polskie – Gwara regionu". www.gwarypolskie.uw.edu.pl. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2022.

[10] "Gwary polskie – Szadzenie". www.gwarypolskie.uw.edu.pl. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2022.

[11] Hamann (2004:56, 64)

[Yanushevskaya-12] Yanushevskaya, Irena; Bunčić, Daniel (2015), "Russian" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 45 (2): 224, doi:10.1017/S0025100314000395

[13] Ziya, Muhammad Amin (2010). ݜِناٗ - اُردو لغت [Gilti Shina Urdu Dictionary] (in Urdu). Gilgit: Zia Publications. ISBN 978-969-942-00-8-. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help)

[14] Hanulíková & Hamann (2010:374)

[Elert_2000-15] Elert, Claes-Christian (2000). Allmän och svensk fonetik [General and Swedish phonetics] (in Swedish) (8 ed.). Stockholm: Norstedts. p. ?. ISBN 91-1-300939-7.

[16] Andersson, Erik (2002). "Swedish". In König, Ekkehard; van der Auwera, Johan (eds.). The Germanic Languages. Routledge language family descriptions. Routledge. p. 273. ISBN 0-415-28079-6.

[Serke_2022-17] Serke, Anna (2022). A description of Taruma phonology (Master thesis). Leiden: Universiteit Leiden. pp. 26–27. Archived from the original on 14 July 2025.

[18] Merrill (2008:109)

[19] Lunsford (2001:16–20)

[20] Šewc-Schuster (1984:41)

[21] Zygis (2003:180)

[sowl165-22] Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:165)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

Voiced retroflex fricative

Voiced retroflex fricative

Voiced retroflex fricative

Add your contribution

Hub overview

Root Wikipedia Article

Voiced retroflex fricative

Features

Occurrence

Voiced retroflex non-sibilant fricative

Features

Occurrence

See also

Citations

References

External links