A three-dimensional ultrasound investigation of the uvular rhotic: German /R/ in six prevocalic contexts

The German rhotic is classified in the standard variety as a uvular trill, but has been shown to demonstrate considerable variation as a result of phonetic reduction processes. Most previous work on the German /R/ has focused on its acoustic properties or its phonological patterning in particular prosodic positions, rarely addressing vowel quality and having limited means to investigate articulation. This paper presents data from a 3D/4D ultrasound investigation of word-initial /R/ in six prevocalic contexts from two L1 German speakers. The vowel space was found to be consistent with Pouplier et al. (2004). The findings indicate that a groove along the posterior dorsum accompanies trilling and that /R/ may be susceptible to coarticulatory effects from a following vowel. Specifically, tongue body height during /R/ articulation can pattern with a following vowel, inhibiting trilling and thus resulting in a fricative, complementing the EMA findings of Schiller & Mooshammer (1995). This study therefore contributes to the body of literature concerning the diversity of rhotics as a class and the variability of the German rhotic in particular.