Voiced dental and alveolar taps and flaps

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 Template:Angbr IPA.

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."<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> That distinction between the alveolar tap and flap can be written in the IPA with tap Template:Angbr IPA and flap Template:Angbr IPA, the 'retroflex' symbol being used for the one that starts with the tongue tip curled back behind the alveolar ridge. The distinction is noticeable in the speech of some American English speakers in distinguishing the words "potty" (tap {{#invoke:IPA|main}}) and "party" (retroflex Template:IPAblink).

For linguists who do not make the distinction, 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.

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

If an alveolar flap is the only rhotic consonant in the language, it may be transcribed with Template:Angbr IPA in broad transcription, despite that symbol technically representing a trill.

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

Voiced alveolar tap and flap

Features

Features of a voiced alveolar tap or flap:

• Its manner of articulation is tap or 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.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Arabic	Egyptian<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>	lang}}	main}}	'leg'	See Egyptian Arabic phonology
	Lebanese	lang}}	main}}	'wages'
	Moroccan	lang}} / rma	main}}	'he threw'
	South Iraqi	lang}}	main}}	'I want'
Aragonese		lang}}	main}}	'Aragonese'	Contrasts with Template:IPAslink.
Armenian	Eastern<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>	lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'minute'	Contrasts with Template:IPAslink in all positions.
Assyrian		ܪܫܐ rìsha	main}}	'head'	Contrasts with ‘dark’ R.
Asturian		lang}}	main}}	'hour'	Contrasts with Template:IPAslink.
Basque		lang}}	main}}	'look'	Contrasts with Template:IPAslink. See Basque phonology
Bengali		lang}}	main}}	'again'	Main realisation of /r/. Corresponds to [[[:Template:IPA link]] ~ Template:IPA link] in others and may occur word-medially and finally against [r]. See Bengali phonology
		lang}}	main}}	'car'	Apical postalveolar.<ref name="mazumdar">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> See Bengali phonology
Catalan<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'trick'	Contrasts with Template:IPAslink. See Catalan phonology
Danish<ref name="gr157">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref><ref name="basb126">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'Nordic'	main}} between phonetic vowels.<ref name="gr157" /><ref name="basb126" /> See Danish phonology
Dutch		lang}}	main}}	'reason'	Especially in the region of West Frisia. Realization of /r/ varies widely in Dutch. See Dutch phonology
English	Cockney<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>	better	main}}	'better'	Intervocalic allophone of {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. In free variation with [{{#invoke:IPA|main}} ~ {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ~ {{#invoke:IPA|main}}]. See Flapping
	Australian<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		{{#invoke:IPA|main}}		Intervocalic allophone of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. See Australian English phonology, New Zealand English phonology and Flapping
	New Zealand<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
	Dublin<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref>|| rowspan="4" | Template:Audio-IPA || rowspan="4" | Intervocalic allophone of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, present in many dialects. In Local Dublin it can be {{#invoke:IPA|main}} instead, unlike New and Mainstream. See English phonology and Flapping
	North America<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
	Ulster
	West Country
	Irish	three	{{#invoke:IPA|main}}	'three'	Conservative accents. Corresponds to [[[:Template:IPA link]] ~ Template:IPA link ~ Template:IPA link] in other accents.
	Scottish<ref name="Ogden2009">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>				Most speakers. Others use [[[:Template:IPA link]] ~ Template:IPA link].
	Older Received Pronunciation<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>				Allophone of {{#invoke:IPA|main}}
	Scouse<ref name="Ogden2009" />
	South African<ref name="Ogden2009" />				Broad speakers. Can be [[[:Template:IPA link]] ~ Template:IPA link] instead
Esperanto		lang}}	main}}	'one who hopes'	Usually a flap Template:IPAblink, but can be a trilled Template:IPA link. See Esperanto phonology
Finnish		lang}}	main}}	'rat'	Occurs in Häme (Tampere) dialect, contrasts with Template:IPA link in standard Finnish. See Finnish phonology
Greek<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}} / Template:Transliteration	main}}	'thigh'	Somewhat retracted. Most common realization of Template:IPAslink. See Modern Greek phonology
Gokana<ref name="brosnahan">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref>	lang}}	main}}	'we'	main}}, 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 Template:IPAblink instead.<ref name="brosnahan" />
Hindustani		lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	main}}	'My'	Allophone of /r/ in intervocalic position. See Hindi phonology
		lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'big'	Apical postalveolar; contrasts unaspirated and aspirated forms.<ref name="tiwari">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> See Hindustani phonology
Hungarian		kar	main}}	'arm'	Allophone of /r/
Irish		lang}}	main}}	'man'	See Irish phonology
Italian	Standard	Era	main}}	Era	Intervocalically
	Sicilian	Drago/Dragu	main}}	Dragon
Kinyarwanda		u Rwanda	main}}	'Rwanda'
Japanese		lang}} /{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'heart'	Template:Sfnp Varies with Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See Japanese phonology
Kazakh		lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'give'	See Kazakh phonology
Korean		여름 / {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	main}}	'summer'	Allophone of /l/ between vowels or between a vowel and an /h/
Malay		راتوس / ratus	main}}	'hundred'	main}}] or postalveolar approximant [{{#invoke:IPA|main}}]. See Malay phonology
Māori		lang}}	main}}	'house'	Sometimes trilled.
Marathi		lang}}	main}}	'wind'
Nepali<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'star'	Intervocalic allophone of /r/. See Nepali phonology
		lang}}	main}}	'rent'	main}}.<ref name="khatiwada374">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> See Nepali phonology
Norwegian<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref>|| {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} || Template:Audio-IPA || 'only' || May be realised as a trill {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, approximant {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or uvular {{#invoke:IPA|main}} depending on dialect. See Norwegian phonology
Odia		lang}}/Template:Transliteration	main}}	'night'
		lang}}	main}}	'car'	main}}.<ref name="masica">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>
Polish		lang}}	main}}	'which'	Can also sometimes be an approximant, a fricative, and rarely - a trill. See Polish phonology
Portuguese<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'dish'	Dental to retroflex allophones, varying by dialect. Contrasts only intervocalically with Template:IPAslink, with its guttural allophones. See Portuguese phonology
Punjabi	Gurmukhi	lang}}	{{#invoke:IPA|main}}	'false promise'	See Punjabi phonology.
	Shahmukhi	lang}}
Scottish Gaelic		lang}}	main}}	'big'	main}}. The initial unlenited broad form is a trill {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, while the slender form is {{#invoke:IPA|main}} ({{#invoke:IPA|main}} in some dialects). See Scottish Gaelic phonology.
Shipibo<ref name="val282">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'to break'	main}}.<ref name="val282" />
Spanish<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'expensive'	Contrasts with Template:IPAslink. See Spanish phonology
Tagalog		lang}}	main}}	'joke'	See Tagalog phonology
Tamil		lang}}	main}}	'tree'	See Tamil phonology
Thai	Some speakers	พระ / phra	main}}	'monk'
Turkish<ref name="YavuzBalcı">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	Template:Audio-IPA	'interval'	Intervocalically; may not make full contact elsewhere.<ref name="YavuzBalcı" /> See Turkish phonology
Uzbek<ref name="Sjoberg">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}/{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}	main}}	'rain'	Denti-alveolar.<ref name="Sjoberg" />
West Coast Bajau<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'to tell'	Voiced dental flap in intervocalic position.
Wu Chinese	Xuanzhou Wu	lang}}	main}}	'Tongling'	Found in various Xuanzhou localities, with that of Tongling provided. Tones not notated due to complexity of tone sandhi. Equivalent to {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in other lects.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Alveolar nasal tap and flap

Features

Features of an alveolar nasal tap or flap:

• Its manner of articulation is tap or flap, which means it is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that the tongue makes very brief contact.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
English<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || Estuary || rowspan="2" | twenty || rowspan="2" | Template:Audio-IPA|| rowspan="2" | 'twenty' || rowspan="2" | Allophone of unstressed intervocalic {{#invoke:IPA|main}} for some speakers, especially in rapid or casual speech. See English phonology, North American English regional phonology and flapping
	North American<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Guarani<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>		lang}}	main}}	'good'	main}} as a result of nasal harmony. See Guarani language § Nasal harmony

See also

• Flapping
• Index of phonetics articles

References

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:SOWL
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:Citation
• Template:CitationTemplate:Dead link

External links

• Template:Phoible