Advanced tongue root
In phonetics, advanced tongue root, abbreviated ATR or +ATR, or expanded, involves the expansion of the pharyngeal cavity by moving the base of the tongue forward — and often lowering the larynx — during the pronunciation of a vowel. The lowering of the larynx sometimes adds a breathy quality to the vowel.
The International Phonetic Alphabet represents ATR with the left tack [ ̘] diacritic.
In languages where they occur, advanced tongue root vowels very often contrast with retracted tongue root (RTR) vowels in a system of vowel harmony. This occurs commonly in large parts of West Africa.
ATR vowels involve a certain tension in the tongue, and often in the lips and jaw as well; the ear can often perceive this tension as a "brightness" (narrow formants) compared to RTR vowels. Nonetheless, phoneticians do not refer to ATR vowels as tense vowels, since the word tense already has several meanings in European phonetics.
[edit] See also
|
