Dental and alveolar flaps
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The alveolar tap or flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar flaps is [ɾ].
The terms tap and flap are usually used interchangeably. Peter Ladefoged proposed for a while that it may be useful to distinguish between them; however, his usage has been inconsistent and contradicted itself even between different editions of the same text.[1] The last proposed distinction was 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."[2] This distinction between the alveolar tap and flap can be written in the IPA with tap [ɾ] and flap [ɽ] — the 'retroflex' symbol used for the one that starts with the tongue tip curled back behind the alveolar ridge. This distinction is noticeable in the speech of some American English speakers in distinguishing the words "potty" (tap [ɾ]), and "party" (flap [ɽ]).
For linguists who make the distinction, the coronal tap is transcribed as [ɾ], and the flap is transcribed as [ᴅ], which is not recognized by the IPA. Otherwise, alveolars and dentals are typically called taps and other articulations flaps. No language contrasts a tap and a flap at the same place of articulation.
This sound is often analyzed and thus interpreted by native English-speakers as an 'R-sound' in many foreign languages. 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 (like the alveolar trill or the alveolar approximant).
When the alveolar tap is the only rhotic consonant in the language, it may be transcribed /r/ although that symbol technically represents the trill.
The voiced alveolar tapped fricative reported from some languages is actually a very brief voiced alveolar non-sibilant fricative.
Contents
Voiced alveolar flap[edit]
| Alveolar flap | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɾ | |||
| IPA number | 124 | ||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ɾ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+027E | ||
| X-SAMPA | 4 | ||
| Kirshenbaum | * | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
| Listen | |||
.svg)
Features[edit]
Features of the alveolar tap:
- Its manner of articulation is flap, which means it is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that the tongue makes very brief contact.
- Its place of articulation is dental or alveolar, which means it is articulated behind upper front teeth or at the alveolar ridge. It is most often apical, which means that it is pronounced with the tip of the tongue.
- Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
- It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
- It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
- The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.
Occurrence[edit]
Dental or denti-alveolar[edit]
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russian[3] | рьяный |  [ˈɾ̪ʲjän̪ɨ̞j] (help·info) |
'zealous' | Apical; palatalized. More common than a dental trill.[3] It contrasts with a post-alveolar trill. See Russian phonology | |
| Uzbek[4] | ёмғир/yomg‘ir | [ʝɒ̜mˈʁ̟ɨɾ̪] | 'rain' | Denti-alveolar.[4] | |
Alveolar[edit]
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Standard[5] | rooi | [ɾoːi̯] | 'red' | May be a trill [r] instead.[5] See Afrikaans phonology |
| Arabic | Egyptian[6] | رجل | [ɾeɡl] | 'foot' | Contrasts with emphatic form. See Egyptian Arabic phonology |
| Lebanese | إجر | [ʔəʒəɾ] | 'wages' | ||
| Moroccan | |||||
| Assyrian Neo-Aramaic | [ɑɾɑː] | 'ground' | Used predominantly. /ɹ/, however, is used in some dialects | ||
| Armenian | Eastern[7] | րոպե | [ɾopɛ] (help·info) |
'minute' | Contrasts with /r/ in all positions. |
| Basque | begiratu | [beˈɣiɾaˌtu] | 'look' | Contrasts with /r/. See Basque phonology | |
| Catalan[8] | mira | [ˈmiɾə] | 'look' | Contrasts with /r/. See Catalan phonology | |
| Danish[9][10] | Vil du med? | [ʋe̝ ɾu ˈme] | 'Are you coming too?' | Possible realization of intervocalic /d/ when it occurs between two unstressed vowels.[9][10] See Danish phonology | |
| English | Cockney[11] | better | [ˈbe̞ɾə] | 'better' | Intervocalic allophone of /t/. In free variation with [ʔ ~ tʰ ~ tˢ]. See Flapping |
| Australian[12] | [ˈbeɾə] | Intervocalic allophone of /t/, and also /d/ for some Australians. Used more often in Australia than in New Zealand. See Australian English phonology and Flapping | |||
| New Zealand[13] | [ˈbeɾɘ] | ||||
| Dublin | [ˈbɛɾɚ] (help·info) |
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 | |||||
| Irish | three | [θɾiː] | '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. Can be [ɹ ~ r] instead | ||||
| Esperanto | esperanto | [espeˈɾanto] | 'person who hopes' | Allophone of /r/. See Esperanto phonology | |
| Greek[17] | μηρός / mirós | [miˈɾ̠o̞s] | 'thigh' | Somewhat retracted. Most common realization of /r/. See Modern Greek phonology | |
| Hindustani | अर्थ/ارتھ | [əɾt̪ʰ] | 'meaning' | See Hindustani phonology | |
| Hungarian | piros | [ˈpiɾoʃ] | 'red' | See Hungarian phonology | |
| Italian | caro | [ˈkaɾo] | 'dear' | Allophone of /r/ in unstressed intervocalic syllables; may also occur in other unstressed syllables.[18] See Italian phonology | |
| Japanese | 心 /こころ kokoro | [ko̞ko̞ɾo̞] (help·info) |
'heart' | Apical.[19] See Japanese phonology | |
| Korean | 여름 / yeoreum | [jʌɾɯm] | 'summer' | Allophone of /l/ between vowels or between a vowel and an /h/ | |
| Limburgish | Hasselt dialect[20] | weuren | [ˈβ̞øːɾən] | '(they) were' | Possible intervocalic allophone of /r/; may be uvular [ʀ̆] instead.[20] |
| Persian | روز | [ɾuz] | 'day' | ||
| Portuguese[21] | prato | [ˈpɾatu] | 'dish' | Dental to retroflex allophones, varying by dialect. Contrasts with /ʁ/, with its guttural allophones and, in all positions, with its archaic form [r]. See Portuguese phonology | |
| Scottish Gaelic | mòr | [moːɾ] | 'big' | Both the lenited and non-initial broad form of r. Often transcribed simply as /r/. The initial unlenited broad form is /rˠ/ (also transcribed as /ᵲ/ or /R/) while the slender form is /ɾʲ/ ([ð] in some dialects). See Scottish Gaelic phonology. | |
| Slovene[22] | amarant | [amaˈɾaːn̪t̪] | 'amaranth' | Also described as trill [r],[23] and variable between trill [r] and tap [ɾ].[24] See Slovene phonology | |
| Spanish[25] | caro | [ˈkaɾo̞] (help·info) |
'expensive' | Contrasts with /r/. See Spanish phonology | |
| Tagalog | barya | [bɐɾˈja] | 'coin' | Once allophones with /d/. May also be pronounced as a trill /r/[26] or an approximant /ɹ/. See Tagalog phonology | |
| Turkish[27] | ara | [ˈäɾä] | 'interval' | Intervocalic realization of /ɾ/.[27] See Turkish phonology | |
| Yiddish | Standard[28] | בריק | [bɾɪk] | 'bridge' | Less commonly a trill [r]; can be uvular [ʀ̆ ~ ʀ] instead.[28] See Yiddish phonology |
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan[29] | ran | [ɾaŋ] | 'to see' | |
Variable[edit]
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| German | Standard[30] | Rübe | [ˈɾÿːbə] | 'beet' | Varies between apical dental and apical alveolar; may be a trill instead.[30] See Standard German phonology |
Alveolar nasal flap[edit]
| Alveolar nasal flap | |
|---|---|
| ɾ̃ | |
| n̆ | |
| IPA number | 124 424 |
| Encoding | |
| X-SAMPA | 4~ |
Features[edit]
Features of the alveolar nasal flap:
- Its manner of articulation is flap, which means it is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that the tongue makes very brief contact.
- 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 allowed to escape through the nose, either exclusively (nasal stops) or in addition to through the mouth.
- It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
- The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.
Occurrence[edit]
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English[31] | Estuary | twenty | [ˈtw̥ɛ̃ɾ̃i] (help·info) |
'twenty' | Allophone of unstressed intervocalic /nt/ for some speakers. See English phonology, North American English regional phonology and Flapping |
| North American[32] | |||||
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:230–231)
- ^ Valentin-Marquez (2015)
- ^ a b Skalozub (1963:?); cited in Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:221)
- ^ a b Sjoberg (1963:13)
- ^ a b Lass (1987), p. 117.
- ^ Watson (2002:16)
- ^ Dum-Tragut (2009:19)
- ^ Carbonell & Llisterri (1992:53)
- ^ a b Grønnum (2005:157)
- ^ a b Basbøll (2005:126)
- ^ Wells (1982:324–325)
- ^ Cox & Palethorpe (2007:343)
- ^ Trudgill & Hannah (2002:24)
- ^ Ogden (2009:114)
- ^ a b c Ogden (2009:92)
- ^ Wise (1957:?)
- ^ Arvaniti (2007:15–18)
- ^ Romano, Antonio. "A preliminary contribution to the study of phonetic variation of /r/ in Italian and Italo-Romance." Rhotics. New data and perspectives (Proc. of’r-atics-3, Libera Università di Bolzano (2011): 209-226, pp. 213-214.
- ^ Labrune (2012), p. 92.
- ^ a b Peters (2006), p. 118.
- ^ Cruz-Ferreira (1995:91)
- ^ Šuštaršič, Komar & Petek (1999:135)
- ^ Pretnar & Tokarz (1980:21)
- ^ Greenberg (2006:17 and 20)
- ^ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:255)
- ^ Schachter and Reid (2008)
- ^ a b Yavuz & Balcı (2011:25)
- ^ a b Kleine (2003:263)
- ^ Merrill (2008:108)
- ^ a b Mangold (2005:53)
- ^ Kwan-Young Oh. "Reanalysis of Flapping on Level Approach". Retrieved 2013-11-24.
- ^ Tomasz P. Szynalski. "Flap t FAQ". Retrieved 2013-11-24.
References[edit]
- Arvaniti, Amalia (2007), "Greek Phonetics: The State of the Art" (PDF), Journal of Greek Linguistics, 8: 97–208, doi:10.1075/jgl.8.08arv, archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-11
- Basbøll, Hans (2005), The Phonology of Danish, ISBN 0-203-97876-5
- Carbonell, Joan F.; Llisterri, Joaquim (1992), "Catalan", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 22 (1–2): 53–56, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004618
- Cox, Felicity; Palethorpe, Sallyanne (2007), "Australian English", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 37 (3): 341–349, doi:10.1017/S0025100307003192
- Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 25 (2): 90–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005223
- Dum-Tragut, Jasmine (2009), Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company
- Greenberg, Mark L. (2006), A Short Reference Grammar of Standard Slovene (PDF), Kansas: University of Kansas
- Grønnum, Nina (2005), Fonetik og fonologi, Almen og Dansk (3rd ed.), Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag, ISBN 87-500-3865-6
- Kleine, Ane (2003), "Standard Yiddish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (2): 261–265, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001385
- Labrune, Laurence (2012), The Phonology of Japanese, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-954583-4
- Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.
- Lass, Roger (1987), "Intradiphthongal Dependencies", in Anderson, John; Durand, Jacques, Explorations in Dependency Phonology, Dordrecht: Foris Publications Holland, pp. 109–131, ISBN 9067652970
- Mangold, Max (2005) [First published 1962], Das Aussprachewörterbuch (6th ed.), Mannheim: Dudenverlag, ISBN 978-3-411-04066-7
- Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (2): 255–259, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001373
- Merrill, Elizabeth (2008), "Tilquiapan Zapotec" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 38 (1): 107–114, doi:10.1017/S0025100308003344
- Ogden, Richard (2009), An Introduction to English Phonetics, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-2541-3
- Peters, Jörg (2006), "The dialect of Hasselt", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 36 (1): 117–124, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002428
- Šimáčková, Šárka; Podlipský, Václav Jonáš; Chládková, Kateřina (2012), "Czech spoken in Bohemia and Moravia" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 42 (2): 225–232, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000102
- Sjoberg, Andrée F. (1963), Uzbek Structural Grammar, Uralic and Altaic Series, 18, Bloomington: Indiana University
- Šuštaršič, Rastislav; Komar, Smiljana; Petek, Bojan (1999), "Slovene", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, pp. 135–139, ISBN 0-521-65236-7
- Trudgill, Peter; Hannah, Jean (2002), International English: A Guide to the Varieties of Standard English, 4th ed, p. 24
- Valentin-Marquez, Wilfredo (2008), "Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics", Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics, 1 (2): 451–454, doi:10.1515/shll-2008-1031
- Watson, Janet (2002), The Phonology and Morphology of Arabic, New York: Oxford University Press
- Watson, Kevin (2007), "Liverpool English", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 37 (3): 351–360, doi:10.1017/S0025100307003180
- Wells, John (1982), Accents of English 2: The British Isles, pp. 324–325, ISBN 978-0-521-28540-7
- Wise, Claude Merton (1957), Introduction to Phonetics, Englewood Cliffs
- Yavuz, Handan; Balcı, Ayla (2011), Turkish Phonology and Morphology (PDF), Eskişehir: Anadolu Üniversitesi, ISBN 978-975-06-0964-0[permanent dead link]
