Voiced epiglottal tap
Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ʡ̆⟩ in IPA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A voiced epiglottal or pharyngeal tap or flap is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages, though it is not known to exist as a phoneme in any language.
There is no dedicated symbol for this sound in the IPA, but it can be transcribed by adding an "extra short" diacritic to the symbol for the stop, ⟨ʡ̆⟩, or equivalently ⟨ʡ̮⟩ to avoid a clash with the ascender.[1] John Esling uses the transcription ⟨ʕ̆⟩.[2]
Features
- Its manner of articulation is tap or flap, which means it is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator (usually the tongue) is thrown against another.
- Its place of articulation is epiglottal, which means it is articulated with the aryepiglottic folds against the epiglottis.
- 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
According to John Esling, it may also exist in Iraqi Arabic, where the consonant ayin is too short to be an epiglottal stop, but has too much of a burst to be a fricative or approximant.[2]
