I've been confused with the American “r” sound. Is it a apical postalveolar approximant or a laminal postalveolar approximant or a retroflex approximant or a molar "r"? I've read Peter Ladefoged's book "A course in Phonetics". He said that around 60% percent American pronounce apical postalveolar approximant, 35% pronounce molar "r", and a few pronounce intermediate position(in my understanding, the intermediate position is laminal postalveolar approximant). And Ladefoged said, only very a few people can pronounce a real retroflex "r". But someone had an argument with me. He state that almost all American "r"s can be categoried into two groups: retroflex and molar "r". I was shocked and I insist Ladefoged is right that "only very a few people can pronounce a real retroflex 'r' ". But he said that Ladefoged made a mistake. He said Ladefoged categories "r" as apical postalveolar approximant is because the retroflex symbol was not invented at that time. I still can't believe it. So I come here to ask, is his statement right than Ladefoged's?
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