In
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 Congo, ...
, 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 transcription, phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standa ...
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 upsilon ...
, , 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 Interna ...
, 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 Technical standard, standard for the consistent character encoding, encoding, representation, and handling of Character (computing), text expre ...
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 ⱴ (lowercase only) is a letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the phonetic transcription of African languages to represent a labiodental flap. Although not an approved symbol of the International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phone ...
, 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 ar ...
, 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, h ...
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 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 Kaare, ...
),
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 and ...
(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 th ...
.
The
bilabial flap
The voiced bilabial flap is an uncommon non- rhotic flap. It is usually, and perhaps always, an allophone of the labiodental flap, though it is the preferred allophone in a minority of languages such as Banda and some of its neighbors.
In Mono ...
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 (Japanese b ...
. 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
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
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