Advanced tongue root, abbreviated ATR or +ATR, also called 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 a "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.
Read more about this topic: Advanced And Retracted Tongue Root
Famous quotes containing the words advanced, tongue and/or root:
“But generally speaking philistinism presupposes a certain advanced state of civilization where throughout the ages certain traditions have accumulated in a heap and have started to stink.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“The bookful blockhead, ignorantly read,
With loads of learned lumber in his head.
With his own tongue still edifies his ears,
And always listening to himself appears.”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“To those who despair of everything reason cannot provide a faith, but only passion, and in this case it must be the same passion that lay at the root of the despair, namely humiliation and hatred.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)