iLrrr-n  +  864521 Sun, 16 Aug 09 12:51 PM I found this page with good illustrations of how to pronounce each sounds in AE. http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/frameset.html Is the /r/ sound featured on this page what is called an alveolar approximant by phoneticians? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveolar_approximant Unfortunately, I'm only able to produce the retroflex approximant http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retroflex_approximant I'm I right to think that the former sound is the more prevalent one? Unfortunately, I've not been able to get this sound down yet and am only able to produce some sort of hissing sound when I try. The instructions on Wikipedia on how to pronounce the sound are pretty vague, so I would be grateful if someone gave me more detailed instructions on it. iLrrr-n Joined on Tue, Aug 11 2009 New Member 09 Approximants, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Languages

	iLrrr-n  +  895687 Thu, 10 Sep 09 05:16 PM iLrrr-n “ I'm I right to think that the former sound is the more prevalent one?” Oops, what I meant to say is of course Am I right to think that the former sound is the more prevalent one? I would have edited the post, but didn’t find that feature anywhere. To the point. The problem isn’t producing an R-sound, I can produce the retroflex approximant easily and well, but it seems impossible to produce the r-sound demonstrated here on the page of the University of Iowa: http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/frameset.html manner -> liquid -> /r/ iLrrr-n Universities, Approximants, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, United States, Languages, Students, Schools

	raindoctor  +  895809 Thu, 10 Sep 09 07:17 PM Liquids do have allophones: one of the liquid /r/ allophone is retroflex. Many times, learners just focus on some abstract sound without looking at the environment. For instance, AmE /t/ has 8 allophones. Even if a foregin language has the AmE /t/ phoneme, it may not have the same set of allophones that /t/ have in AmE. raindoctor Joined on Sun, Apr 26 2009 Junior Member 67 Allophones, Languages

	CalifJim  +  898088 Sat, 12 Sep 09 08:36 AM iLrrr-n “ The problem isn’t producing an R-sound, I can produce the retroflex approximant easily and well, but it seems impossible to produce the r-sound demonstrated here on the page of the University of Iowa: http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/frameset.html manner -> liquid -> /r/ ” The R sound presented there is indeed the most prevalent one in American English.  It may seem impossible, but millions of us do it effortlessly hundreds of times a day.  If you're getting hissing, you're not voicing it and you may be holding your tongue too close to your palate. CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,389 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche American English, Universities, Approximants, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, United States, American, Languages, Students, Schools

	iLrrr-n  +  898695 Sat, 12 Sep 09 07:10 PM So did I get it right? The center and the front of the tongue is raised towards the hard palete while the tip of the tongue remains relatively stationary, the sides of the tongue are pressed against the upper teeth to prevent any lateral air flow and there is no tongue curling? I think I might be getting the hang of it, but it's really hard to keep the tongue from curling back at least a little. How about the usage? Is this /r/ used in all situations, by the people who use it, or are some other allophones used in certain situations? iLrrr-n

	raindoctor  +  908227 Sat, 19 Sep 09 04:59 AM iLrrr-n, If you are just interested in producing american R, here is a tip from "American spoken english in Real life: fast natural, urgent survival foreign accent begone!" by DG Davies. " r + vowel = ur + vowel. First say u. Tongue back into mouth does not move while lips smile changing to next vowel.  write - right urait, three thuri, brow buraun, etc." Here is a video that follows the above advice: Note the rounded ness of /r/ raindoctor Vowels, Accents, Video, Countries, United Kingdom, Great Britain, United States, American, Languages, Tips