Voiced dental and alveolar taps and flaps

(Redirected from /ɾ/)

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.

Voiced alveolar tap or flap
ɾ
IPA number124
Audio sample
Encoding
Entity (decimal)ɾ
Unicode (hex)U+027E
X-SAMPA4
Braille⠖ (braille pattern dots-235) ⠗ (braille pattern dots-1235)
Voiced postalveolar flap
ɾ̠

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 (or IPA ) 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

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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

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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.
Bengaliত্রি[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 ~ ~ ]. 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.
ड़ा/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 /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 /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 Gaelicr[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 ம் / maram [mɐɾɐ́m] 'tree' See Tamil phonology.
Thai Some speakers ะ / 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

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Alveolar nasal tap/flap
ɾ̃
IPA number124 424
Encoding
X-SAMPA4~ or n_X

Features

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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

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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

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Notes

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  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)

References

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