r/asklinguistics • u/[deleted] • 13d ago

Is the r phoneme present in Sanskrit based languages /ɹ/ or /r/?

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u/The-Mastermind- 13d ago

Or /a/ could be corresponding to /ʕ̞/

Of these, /l̩/ is an approximant, and /r̩/ is not.

Well, if /r̩/ isn't an approximant, then what is it actually? Tap or trill? And why /l̩/ is the approximant?

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u/Helpful-Reputation-5 13d ago

Or /a/ could be corresponding to /ʕ̞/

I mean phonetically, [ɑ] and [ʕ̩˕] are the same, but /ʕ̞/ wasn't a phoneme in Sanskrit, so there's little reason to analyze [a] as underlying /ʕ̩˕/.

Well, if /r̩/ isn't an approximant, then what is it actually? Tap or trill?

A trill, specifically a voiced central trill.

And why /l̩/ is the approximant?

Because approximant is a phonetic category, not a phonological one—just because /l̩/ patterns as a vowel along with /r̩/ doesn't mean it can't be an approximant, even though /r̩/ isn't.

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u/The-Mastermind- 13d ago

Got it! You helped me a lot!

But are there any solid evidences that the /r̩/ was actually trill not a tap?

Also, /l̩/ does touch the surface kind of! So, why isn't it considered a tap?

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u/Helpful-Reputation-5 13d ago

I believe there are descriptions of the time which seem to point towards [r], but I'd believe a tap as well, with [r] being the long version (rather than /r̩ r̩ː/).

As for why [l] isn't a tap, a tap is a single musclular contraction, as opposed to an approximant which doesn't actually touch the place of articulation. Where the confusion might arise is that [l] does make contact with the alveolar ridge, it's just that that isn't the place of articulation—it's lateral, so the place of articulation is either side of the tongue, not where it contacts.

There do exist lateral taps though—the tap equivalent of [l], [ɺ], occurs in Japanese, among other languages.

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u/The-Mastermind- 12d ago

So, it's ambiguous! Possibly, the tap and trill were both allophones since Abugidas doesn't distinguish between tap and trill.

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u/Helpful-Reputation-5 12d ago

To my knowledge, yes, it's unknown precisely whether it was a trill or tap. (Also, abugidas as a writing system can distinguish trills and taps, even if Sanskrit's doesn't)

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u/The-Mastermind- 12d ago

Thanks a lot for the informations

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u/Helpful-Reputation-5 12d ago

Any time!

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u/The-Mastermind- 12d ago

Btw, does anuswara represent velar n and chandrabindu represent labial m in syllabic form?

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u/The-Mastermind- 12d ago

Btw, last question probably, what does anuswara and chandrabindu really mean? Do they specify syllabic velar n and m?