phonetics Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

, the voiced labiodental flap is a speech sound found primarily in languages of

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Co ...

, such as Kera and Mangbetu. It has also been reported in the Austronesian language Sika. It is one of the few non- rhotic flaps. The sound begins with the lower lip placed behind the upper teeth. The lower lip is then flipped outward, striking the upper teeth in passing.

Symbol

The symbol in the

International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standardized representation ...

that represents this sound is , which resembles Cyrillic

izhitsa Izhitsa or Izhica (Ѵ, ѵ; italics: ; OCS: Ѷжица, Russian: Ижица, Ukrainian: Іжиця) is a letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet and several later alphabets, usually the last in the row. It originates from the Greek letter upsilo ...

, , but is composed of a V and the hook of the flap . In 2005, the

International Phonetic Association The International Phonetic Association (IPA; French: ', ''API'') is an organization that promotes the scientific study of phonetics and the various practical applications of that science. The IPA's major contribution to phonetics is the Inter ...

, responding to Kenneth Olson's request for its adoption, voted to include a symbol for this sound, and selected a ''v with a right hook'', that is, a combination of + . As of version 5.1.0, the

Unicode Unicode, formally The Unicode Standard,The formal version reference is is an information technology standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard, ...

character set encodes this character at U+2C71 (ⱱ). In earlier literature, it is often transcribed by a ''v'' modified by the

extra-short The International Phonetic Alphabet uses a breve to indicate a speech sound (usually a vowel) with extra-short duration. That is, is a very short vowel with the quality of . An example from English is the short schwa of the word ''police'' . Th ...

diacritic, , following a 1989 recommendation of the International Phonetic Association. Another historic symbol for this sound was v with curl , which had been employed in articles from the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ...

, by

Joseph Greenberg Joseph Harold Greenberg (May 28, 1915 – May 7, 2001) was an American linguist, known mainly for his work concerning linguistic typology and the genetic classification of languages. Life Early life and education Joseph Greenberg was born on ...

, and others.

Features

Features of the voiced labiodental flap: * Its

manner of articulation In articulatory phonetics, the manner of articulation is the configuration and interaction of the articulators ( speech organs such as the tongue, lips, and palate) when making a speech sound. One parameter of manner is ''stricture,'' that is ...

flap Flap may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Flap'' (film), a 1970 American film * Flap, a boss character in the arcade game ''Gaiapolis'' * Flap, a minor character in the film '' Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland'' Biology and he ...

, which normally means it is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that the tongue makes very brief contact. In this case, being a non- rhotic consonant, the flap is made with the lower lip. * Its

place of articulation In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation (also point of articulation) of a consonant is a location along the vocal tract where its production occurs. It is a point where a constriction is made between an active and a passive articula ...

is dental, which means it is articulated behind upper front teeth.

Occurrence

The labiodental flap is found primarily in Central Africa, in as many as a few hundred languages found in the

Chadic The Chadic languages form a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken in parts of the Sahel. They include 150 languages spoken across northern Nigeria, southern Niger, southern Chad, the Central African Republic, and northern Ca ...

family (Margi, Tera),

Ubangian The Ubangian languages form a diverse linkage of some seventy languages centered on the Central African Republic. They are the predominant languages of the CAR, spoken by 2–3 million people, and include the national language, Sango. They ar ...

(Ngbaka, Ma'bo, Sera),

Mbum Mbum Proper (also Mboum, Buna, Mboumtiba and Wuna) is a Adamawa–Ubangi language of Central Africa. It is spoken by about people in Cameroon and the Central African Republic. History The Mbum language is spoken by the Mbum people who inhabit ...

(eg

Kare Kare or KARE may refer to: * Kare (Žitorađa), a village in Serbia * Kare language, several languages with the name * Kare (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Kare Kauks (born 1961), Estonian singer * Kåre or Ka ...

Central Sudanic Central Sudanic is a family of about sixty languages that have been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Nigeria an ...

(Mangbetu, Kresh), and

Bantoid Bantoid is a major branch of the Benue–Congo language family. It consists of the Northern Bantoid languages and the Southern Bantoid languages, a division which also includes the Bantu languages that constitute the overwhelming majority and to ...

(Ngwe, some Shona dialects). It is extremely rare outside Africa, though it has been reported from Sika in

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and t ...

. The bilabial flap is a variant of the labiodental flap in several languages, including

Mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanes ...

. This sound involves striking the upper lip rather than the upper teeth. The two sounds are not known to contrast in any language; the term labial flap can be used as a broader description encompassing both sounds. In Sika, the flap is heard in careful pronunciation, but it may also be realized as a voiced labiodental stop, , or an affricate. It contrasts with both a bilabial and a labiodental fricative:

Notes

References

* * * * * * *

External links

* * Olson and Hajek, 2001
'The Geographic and Genetic Distribution of the Labial Flap'

A Crosslinguistic Lexicon of the Labial Flap
(has video & sound files)

(has information on the labiodental flap) {{IPA navigation Tap and flap consonants Labiodental consonants Phonetic transcription symbols Pulmonic consonants