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The grapheme Ř, ř (R with háček, example of Czech pronunciation: "řeka") is a letter used in alphabets of the Czech and Upper Sorbian languages. It was also used in a proposed orthography for the Silesian language. A similar consonant can also be found in some Norwegian dialects (around Narvik) and in Berber (especially in its Rif variety).

The Unicode glyphs are U+0158 Ř LATIN CAPITAL LETTER R WITH CARON and U+0159 ř LATIN SMALL LETTER R WITH CARON. Either can also be represented using the combining character U+030C  ̌  COMBINING CARON.

History of Ř in Czech

In Czech, the phoneme ř originated from Old Czech in the 13th century. The oldest written documents from which it can be inferred date to 1237. Three theories exist explaining the origin of the phoneme. First, it could have arisen from the consonant r preceding the vowels e, í, i. The second theory posits that ř evolved from the phoneme r followed by the Proto-Slavic vowel yer (ь). Finally, it is possible that the phoneme evolved from the Proto-Slavic combination of r and the nasal ę, or from the cluster rj (alternatively spelled r'). For example, r’epa > řepa, r’ěka > řěka > řeka, tr’i > tři, zvěr’ь > zvěr’ > zvěř, kur’ę > kur’ě > kuřě > kuře, morje > mor’e > moře.

Usage

In Czech it is used to denote Template:IPA-cs, a raised alveolar non-sonorant trill and it is an allophone of 'rz' in Polish. Its manner of articulation is similar to other alveolar trills but the tongue is raised; it is partially fricative. It is usually voiced, , but it also has a voiceless allophone occurring in the vicinity of voiceless consonants or at the end of a word.

In Upper Sorbian, it denotes the voiceless postalveolar fricative .

In Rif-Berber, it is used for a sound between /l/ and /r/.

Tongue twister

Czech: “Tři sta třicet tři stříbrných stříkaček stříkalo přes tři sta třicet tři stříbrných střech.”

Phonetically: .

English: “333 silver fire hoses squirted over 333 silver roofs”.

Computing code

See also

• Czech alphabet
• Sorbian alphabet

References

1. Čornejová, M. Ke grafice bohemik X.–XII. století. SPFFBU Linguistica Brunensia A 53, 2005, 137–145.
2. http://prirucka.ujc.cas.cz/?id=148

• Letters with caron
• Latin letters with diacritics