A voiced alveolar tap or flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents a dental, alveolar, or postalveolar tap or flap is ⟨ɾ⟩.

The terms tap and flap are often used interchangeably. Peter Ladefoged proposed the distinction that a tap strikes its point of contact directly, as a very brief stop, and a flap strikes the point of contact tangentially: "Flaps are most typically made by retracting the tongue tip behind the alveolar ridge and moving it forward so that it strikes the ridge in passing."[1] That distinction between the alveolar tap and flap could be written in non-standard IPA with the tap as ⟨ɾ⟩ and the flap as ⟨ɽ⟩, the retroflex letter being used for the one that starts with the tongue tip curled back behind the alveolar ridge,[citation needed] though it could be written less ambiguously with the Americanist letter ⟨ᴅ⟩ (or IPA ⟨d̮⟩) for the tap and standard IPA ⟨ɾ⟩ for the flap. The distinction is noticeable in the speech of some American English speakers in distinguishing the words "potty" (tap) and "party" (flap).[citation needed]

For linguists who do not make the distinction, alveolars and dentals are typically called taps and other articulations flaps.[citation needed] No language contrasts a tap and a flap at the same place of articulation.

As a phoneme, the sound is analyzed as a rhotic consonant. In languages for which the segment is present but not phonemic, it is often an allophone of either an alveolar stop ([t], [d], or both) or a rhotic consonant.

If an alveolar flap is the only rhotic consonant in the language, it may be transcribed with ⟨r⟩ in broad transcription, despite that symbol technically representing a trill.

A voiced alveolar tapped fricative is reported from some languages, which is a very brief voiced alveolar non-sibilant fricative.

Features

Sagittal section of an alveolar flap (voicing not shown).

Features of a voiced alveolar tap or flap:

* Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.

* It is an oral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.

* It is a median consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream down the midline of the tongue, rather than to the sides.

* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most speech sounds.

Occurrence

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
AlbanianStandardShqipëri[ʃc͡ɕipəˈɾi]'Albania'Contrasts with /r/ in all positions.
ArabicEgyptian[2]رجل[ˈɾeɡɫ̩]'leg'See Egyptian Arabic phonology.
Lebanese إجر [ˈʔəʒəɾ] 'wages'
Moroccan رما / rma [ɾma] 'he threw'
South Iraqi أريد [ˈaɾiːd] 'I want'
Aragonesearagonés[äɾäɣ̞o̞ˈne̞s]'Aragonese'Contrasts with /r/.
ArmenianEastern[3]րոպե[ɾo̞pɛ̝́]ⓘ'minute'Contrasts with /r/ in all positions.
Assyrian ܪܫܐ / rìsha [ɾiʃa] 'head'
Asturianhora[ˈo̞ɾä]'hour'Contrasts with /r/.
Azerbaijaniqara / قارا[ɡɑˈɾɑ]'black'
Basquebegiratu[be̞ˈɣ̞iɾäˌt̪u]'look'Contrasts with /r/. See Basque phonology.
Bengaliত্রিশ[t̪ɾiʃ]'dear'Main realisation of /r/ phoneme. Also pronounced as [ɹ] or very rarely as [r], especially in word-initial positions.[4][5] See Bengali phonology.
গাড়ি [ˈɡɐɾ̠iˑ] 'car' Apical postalveolar flaps; contrasts unaspirated and aspirated forms.[6] See Bengali phonology.
Catalan[7]truc[ˈtɾuk]'trick'Contrasts with /r/. See Catalan phonology.
Danish[8][9]nordisk[ˈnoɐ̯ɾisk]'Nordic'Possible realization of intervocalic /d/ between phonetic vowels.[8][9] See Danish phonology.
Dutchreden[ˈɾeːdə(n)]'reason'Especially in the region of West Frisia. Realization of /r/ varies widely in Dutch. See Dutch phonology.
EnglishCockney[10]better[ˈbe̞ɾɐ]'better'Intervocalic allophone of /t/. In free variation with [ʔ ~ tʰ ~ tˢ]. See Flapping.
Australian[11][ˈbeɾɐ]Intervocalic allophone of /t/ and /d/. See Australian English phonology, New Zealand English phonology and Flapping.
New Zealand[12]
Dublin[13][ˈbɛɾɚ]ⓘIntervocalic allophone of /t/ and /d/, present in many dialects. In Local Dublin it can be [ɹ] instead, unlike New and Mainstream. See English phonology and Flapping.
North America[14]
Ulster
West Country
Irishthree[θɾ̊iː][Wrong page?]'three'Conservative accents. Corresponds to [ɹ ~ ɻ ~ ʁ] in other accents.
Scottish[15]Most speakers. Others use [ɹ ~ r].
Older Received Pronunciation[16]Allophone of /ɹ/.
Scouse[15]
South African[15]Broad speakers.[clarification needed] Can be [ɹ ~ r] instead.
EsperantoEsperanto[espeˈɾanto]'one who hopes'Usually a flap [ɾ], but can be a trilled r, depending on speaker. See Esperanto phonology.
Finnishrotta[ˈɾo̞t̪ːɑ]'rat'Occurs in Häme (Tampere) dialect, contrasts with r in standard Finnish. See Finnish phonology.
Greek[17]μηρός / mirós[miˈɾ̠o̞s̠]'thigh'Somewhat retracted. Most common realization of /r/. See Modern Greek phonology.
Gokana[18] bele [beːɾ̠eː] 'we' Apical postalveolar. Allophone of /l/, medially between vowels within the morpheme, and finally in the morpheme before a following vowel in the same word. It can be a postalveolar trill or simply [l] instead.[18]
Hindustaniमेरा/میرا[ˈmeːɾäː]'my'Allophone of /r/ in intervocalic position. See Hindustani phonology.
बड़ा/بڑا [ˈbɐɾ̠äː]ⓘ 'big' Apical postalveolar flaps; contrasts unaspirated and aspirated forms.[19] See Hindustani phonology.
Hungariankar[ˈkɒɾ]'arm'Allophone of /r/. See Hungarian phonology.
Irishfear[fʲaɾˠ]'man'See Irish phonology.
Italian Standard era [ˈɛːɾä] 'era' Intervocalic realization of /r/.
Siciliandrago[ˈdɾaːɡu]'dragon'
Kinyarwandau Rwanda[u‿ɾgwɑːⁿdɑ]'Rwanda'
Japanese心 /こころ kokoro[ko̞ko̞ɾo̞ꜜ]ⓘ'heart'[20] Varies with [ɺ].[21] See Japanese phonology.
Kazakhбер / ber[be̞ɾ]ⓘ'give'In free variation with trilled /r/. See Kazakh phonology.
Korean여름 / yeoreum[jʌ̹̀ɾɯ́m]'summer'Allophone of /l/ between vowels or between a vowel and an /h/. See Korean phonology.
Kyrgyzкырк / kyrk[qɯɾq]ⓘ'forty'See Kyrgyz phonology.
Malay راتوس / ratus [ɾä.tos] 'hundred' Common realization of /r/. May be a trilled [r] or postalveolar approximant [ɹ̠]. See Malay phonology.
Malayalam വര/vara [ʋɐɾɐ] 'line' or 'drawing' See Malayalam phonology
Māoriwhare[ˈɸaɾɛ]'house'Sometimes trilled.
Marathiवारा[ʋaːɾaː]'wind'
Nepali[22]तारा [t̪äɾä]'star'Intervocalic allophone of /r/. See Nepali phonology.
भाड़ा [bʱäɾ̠ä] 'rent' Apical postalveolar flaps; postvocalic allophone of /ɖ, ɖʱ/.[23] See Nepali phonology.
Norwegian[24]bare[ˈbɑ̂ːɾə]ⓘ'only'May be realised as a trill [r], approximant [ɹ] or uvular [ʀ~ʁ] depending on dialect. See Norwegian phonology.
Odiaରାତି / rāti[ɾäti]'night'
ଗାଡ଼ି [ɡäɾ̠iː] 'car' Apical postalveolar flaps; postvocalic allophone of /ɖ, ɖʱ/.[25]
Polish który [ˈkt̪uɾɘ̟] 'which' Common realization of /r/. See Polish phonology.
Portuguese[26]prato[ˈpɾatʊ]'dish'Dental to retroflex allophones, varying by dialect. Contrasts only intervocalically with /ʁ/, with its guttural allophones. See Portuguese phonology.
Punjabi Gurmukhi ਲਾਰਾ [ˈläːɾäː] 'false promise' See Punjabi phonology.
Shahmukhi لارا
Scottish Gaelicmòr[moːɾ]'big'Both the lenited and non-initial broad form of r. Often transcribed simply as /r/. The initial unlenited broad form is a trill [rˠ], while the slender form is [ɾʲ] ([ð] in some dialects). See Scottish Gaelic phonology.
Shipibo[27] roro [ˈɾ̠o̽ɾ̠o̽] 'to break' Apical postalveolar; possible realization of /r/.[27]
Spanish[28]caro[ˈkaɾo̞]ⓘ'expensive'Contrasts with /r/. See Spanish phonology.
Tagalogbiro[ˈbiɾɔʔ]'joke'See Tagalog phonology.
Tamil மரம் / maram [mɐɾɐ́m]ⓘ 'tree' See Tamil phonology.
Thai Some speakers พระ / phrá [pʰɾäʔ˦˥] 'monk'
Turkish[29]ara[ɑˈɾɑ]ⓘ'interval'Intervocalically; may not make full contact elsewhere.[29] See Turkish phonology.
Turkmengara[ɢɑˈɾɑ]'black'
Uzbek[30]ёмғир / yomg‘ir / یامغیر[ʝɒ̽mˈʁ̟ɨ̞ɾ̪]'rain'Denti-alveolar.[30] See Uzbek phonology.
West Coast Bajau[31]baraꞌ[ba.ɾaʔ]'to tell'Voiced dental flap in intervocalic position.
Wu ChineseXuanzhou Wu銅陵[ɾom.lin]'Tongling'Found in various Xuanzhou localities, with that of Tongling provided. Tones not notated due to complexity of tone sandhi. Equivalent to /d/ in other lects.[32]

Alveolar nasal tap and flap

Features

Features of an alveolar nasal tap or flap:

* Its place of articulation is alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.

* Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.

* It is a nasal consonant, which means air is exclusively allowed to escape through the nose for nasal stops; otherwise, in addition to through the mouth.

* It is a median consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream down the midline of the tongue, rather than to the sides.

* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most speech sounds.

Occurrence

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
English[33]Estuarytwenty[ˈtʰw̥ɛ̃ɾ̃i]ⓘ'twenty'Allophone of unstressed intervocalic /nt/ for some speakers, especially in rapid or casual speech. See English phonology, North American English regional phonology and flapping
North American[34]
Guarani[35]porã[põˈɾ̃ã]'good'Nasalized allophone of /ɾ/ as a result of nasal harmony. See Guarani language § Nasal harmony

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Valentin-Marquez (2008)
  2. ↑ Watson (2002:16)
  3. ↑ Dum-Tragut (2009:19)
  4. ↑ Ferguson & Chowdhury (1960)
  5. ↑ Khan (2010), pp. 223–224.
  6. ↑ Mazumdar (2000:57)
  7. ↑ Carbonell & Llisterri (1992:53)
  8. 1 2 Grønnum (2005:157)
  9. 1 2 Basbøll (2005:126)
  10. ↑ Wells (1982:324–325)
  11. ↑ Cox & Palethorpe (2007:343)
  12. ↑ Trudgill & Hannah (2002:24)
  13. ↑ "Glossary". Retrieved 2021-05-22.
  14. ↑ Ogden (2009:114)
  15. 1 2 3 Ogden (2009:92)
  16. ↑ Wise (1957:?)
  17. ↑ Arvaniti (2007:15–18)
  18. 1 2 L.F. Brosnahan. "Outlines of the phonology of the Gokana dialect of Ogoni" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-03. Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  19. ↑ Tiwari (2004:?)
  20. ↑ Labrune (2012), p. 92.
  21. ↑ Akamatsu (1997), p. 106.
  22. ↑ Khatiwada, Rajesh (December 2009). "Nepali". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 39 (3): 373–380. doi:10.1017/S0025100309990181. ISSN 1475-3502.
  23. ↑ Khatiwada (2009:374)
  24. ↑ Kristoffersen, Gjert (2015). "En innføring i norsk fonologi" [An introduction to Norwegian phonology] (PDF) (in Norwegian) (4 ed.). University of Bergen. p. 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-24. Retrieved 2020-07-09. I østlandsk er denne lyden normalt en såkalt tapp
  25. ↑ Masica (1991:107)
  26. ↑ Cruz-Ferreira (1995:91)
  27. 1 2 Valenzuela, Márquez Pinedo & Maddieson (2001:282)
  28. ↑ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:255)
  29. 1 2 Yavuz & Balcı (2011:25)
  30. 1 2 Sjoberg (1963:13)
  31. ↑ Miller, Mark T. (2007). A Grammar of West Coast Bajau (Ph.D. thesis). University of Texas at Arlington. p. 34. hdl:10106/577.
  32. ↑ Jiang, Bingbing (2003), 吴语宣州片方言音韵研究, Shanghai: East China Normal University Press, pp. 41–42, ISBN 7-5617-3299-6
  33. ↑ Kwan-Young Oh. "Reanalysis of Flapping on Level Approach". Retrieved 2023-04-29.
  34. ↑ Tomasz P. Szynalski. "Flap t FAQ". Retrieved 2013-11-24.
  35. ↑ Walker (2011:9–10)

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source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_alveolar_tap_or_flap