Alveolar flap

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Alveolar tap
ɾ
IPA number 124
Encoding
Entity (decimal) ɾ
Unicode (hex) U+027E
X-SAMPA 4
Kirshenbaum *
Braille ⠖ (braille pattern dots-235) ⠗ (braille pattern dots-1235)
Sound

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 may be used interchangeably. Peter Ladefoged proposed for a while that it may be useful to distinguish between them; however, his usage has been inconsistent, contradicting 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, whereas 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] However, later on, he no longer felt this was a useful distinction to make, and preferred to use the word flap in all cases.[citation needed]

For linguists who do make the distinction, the coronal tap is transcribed as a fish-hook "r", [ɾ], while the flap is transcribed as a small capital "d", [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 therefore transcribed) by native English speakers as an 'R-sound' in many foreign languages. For example, the 'Japanese R' in hara, akira, tora, etc. is actually an alveolar tap. In languages where this 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 alveolar approximant.

When the alveolar tap is the only rhotic consonant in the language, it may for simplicity be transcribed /r/, i.e. the symbol technically representing the trill.

Voiced alveolar flap[edit]

Features[edit]

Features of the alveolar tap:

Occurrence[edit]

Dental or denti-alveolar[edit]

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Russian[3] рьяный About this sound [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
Albanian emër [ɛməɾ] 'name' Contrasts with /r/ in all positions
Arabic Egyptian[6] رجل [ɾeɡl] 'foot' Contrasts with emphatic form. See Egyptian Arabic phonology
Levantine [ɾeʒl]
Armenian Eastern[7] րոպե About this sound [ɾopɛ] (help·info) 'minute' Contrasts with /r/ in all positions.
Asturian yera [ˈʝe̞ɾa] 'I/it was' Contrasts with /r/
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic [bɑɾa] 'light' Used predominantly. /ɹ/, however, is used in some dialects
Austro-Bavarian Rose [ɾoːzə] 'rose'
Basque lore [lo̞ɾe̞] 'flower' Contrasts with /r/
Catalan[8] mira [ˈmiɾə] 'look' Contrasts with /r/. See Catalan phonology
Chechen рагI / raġ [ɾɑɣ] 'mountain range'
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
Dutch Many dialects Peru About this sound [peˈɾu] (help·info) 'Peru' In free variation with [r] and [ʀ]. Pronunciation of /r/ varies regionally. See Dutch phonology
English Received Pronunciation[11] better [ˈbe̞ɾə] 'better' Intervocalic allophone of /t/ for some speakers. See English phonology and flapping
Cockney[12] Intervocalic allophone of /t/. In free variation with [ʔ ~ tʰ ~ tˢ]. See flapping
Australian[13] [ˈbeɾə] Intervocalic allophone of /t/, and also /d/ among few Australians. Used more often in Australia than in New Zealand. See Australian English phonology and flapping
New Zealand[14] [ˈbeɾɘ]
Dublin About this sound [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[15]
Ulster
West Country
Irish three [θɾiː] 'three' Conservative accents. Corresponds to [ɹ ~ ɻ ~ ʁ] in other accents.
Scottish[16] Most speakers. Others use [ɹ ~ r].
Older Received Pronunciation[17] Allophone of /ɹ/
Scouse[16]
South African[16] Broad speakers. Can be [ɹ ~ r] instead
French African French rouge [ɾuʒ] 'red' May be a trill instead. See Standard and Quebec French phonologies
Corsica
Rural Acadian
Rural France
Rural Quebec
Southern France
Galician cordeiro [koɾˈðejɾo] 'lamb' Contrasts with /r/ in all positions
Greek[18] μηρός/mirós [miˈɾ̠o̞s] 'thigh' Somewhat retracted. Most common realization of /r/. See Modern Greek phonology
Hebrew Mizrahi רבע [ˈɾevaʕ] 'quarter' See Modern Hebrew phonology
Sephardic
Ilokano tumakder [tʊmagˈdeɾ] 'to stand up' Contrasts with /r/. See Ilokano phonology
Irish carr
tirim		 [kaɾˠ]
[tʲɪɾʲɪmʲ]		 'car' Exists in velarised ("broad") and palatalised ("slender") forms. See Irish phonology
Japanese 心/kokoro About this sound [ˈko̥koɾo] (help·info) 'heart' May instead be an alveolar lateral flap. See Japanese phonology
Korean 바람/baram [paɾam] 'wind' See Korean phonology
Limburgish Hasselt dialect[19] weuren [ˈβ̞ø̠ːɾən] '(they) were' Possible intervocalic allophone of /r/; may be uvular [ʀ̆] instead.[19]
Māori reo [ˈɾeo] 'language'
Mutsun moroṭ [moɾoʈ] 'acorn husk'
Norwegian Norge [ˈnɔɾɡə] 'Norway' See Norwegian phonology
Persian كشور [keʃvæɾ] 'country' See Persian phonology
Polish ręka [ɾεŋka] 'hand' Common allophone of /r/, particularly in colloquial speech
Portuguese[20] 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
Punjabi ਰਾਤ [ˈɾɑːt̪] 'night'
Sicilian corna [ˈkɔɾna] 'horns'
Slovene[21] amarant [amaˈɾaːn̪t̪] 'amaranth' Also described as trill [r],[22] and variable between trill [r] and tap [ɾ].[23] See Slovene phonology
Spanish[24] caro [ˈkaɾo̞] 'expensive' Contrasts with /r/. See Spanish phonology
Tagalog bihira [bɪˈhiɾɐ] 'rare' See Tagalog phonology
Turkish[25] ara [ˈäɾä] 'interval' Intervocalic realization of /ɾ/.[25] See Turkish phonology
Zapotec Tilquiapan[26] ran [ɾaŋ] 'to see'

Postalveolar[edit]

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Gokana[27] bele [bēɾ̠ē] 'we' 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 post-alveolar trill or simply [l] instead.[27]

Variable[edit]

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
German Standard[28] Rübe [ˈɾÿːbə] 'beet' Varies between apical dental and apical alveolar; may be a trill instead.[28] See German phonology

Voiced alveolar raised non-sonorant flap[edit]

Voiced alveolar raised non-sonorant flap
ɾ̝
IPA number 124 429
Encoding
X-SAMPA 4_r

Features[edit]

Features of the voiced alveolar raised non-sonorant flap:

Occurrence[edit]

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Czech[29] čtyři [ˈt͡ʃtɪɾ̝ɪ] 'four' May be a trill fricative[29] or a non-sibilant fricative[30] instead. It contrasts with /r/ and /ʒ/. See Czech phonology
Kobon [example needed]
Turkish[25] rüya [ˈɾ̝ÿjä] 'dream' Word-initial allophone of /ɾ/.[25] See Turkish 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 [ˈtw̥ɛɾ̃i] 'twenty' Allophone of unstressed intervocallic /nt/ for some speakers. See English phonology,
North American English regional phonology and flapping
North American[32]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:230–231)
  2. ^ Valentin-Marquez (2015)
  3. ^ a b Skalozub (1963:?); cited in Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:221)
  4. ^ a b Sjoberg (1963:13)
  5. ^ a b Lass (1987), p. 117.
  6. ^ Watson (2002:16)
  7. ^ Dum-Tragut (2009:19)
  8. ^ Carbonell & Llisterri (1992:53)
  9. ^ a b Grønnum (2005:157)
  10. ^ a b Basbøll (2005:126)
  11. ^ "Wells: Syllabification and allophony". Phon.ucl.ac.uk. 
  12. ^ Wells (1982:324–325)
  13. ^ Cox & Palethorpe (2007:343)
  14. ^ Trudgill & Hannah (2002:24)
  15. ^ Ogden (2009:114)
  16. ^ a b c Ogden (2009:92)
  17. ^ Wise (1957:?)
  18. ^ Arvaniti (2007:15–18)
  19. ^ a b Peters (2006), p. 118.
  20. ^ Cruz-Ferreira (1995:91)
  21. ^ Šuštaršič, Komar & Petek (1999:135)
  22. ^ Pretnar & Tokarz (1980:21)
  23. ^ Greenberg (2006:17 and 20)
  24. ^ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:255)
  25. ^ a b c d Yavuz & Balcı (2011:25)
  26. ^ Merrill (2008:108)
  27. ^ a b L.F. Brosnahan. "Outlines of the phonology of the Gokana dialect of Ogoni" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-11-24. 
  28. ^ a b Mangold (2005:53)
  29. ^ a b Šimáčková, Podlipský & Chládková (2012:226)
  30. ^ Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:228-230 and 233)
  31. ^ Kwan-Young Oh. "Reanalysis of Flapping on Level Approach". Retrieved 2013-11-24. 
  32. ^ Tomasz P. Szynalski. "Flap t FAQ". Retrieved 2013-11-24. 

Bibliography[edit]

 
The letter R
General
Pronunciations
Variations
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