Voiced bilabial flap
Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ⱱ̟⟩ or ⟨b̆⟩ in IPA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A 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.[citation needed]
| Voiced bilabial flap | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⱱ̟ | |||
| w̆ | |||
| b̆ | |||
| IPA number | 184 413 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ⱱ̟ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+2C71 U+031F | ||
| X-SAMPA | w_X or b_X | ||
| |||
In Mono, the sound has been described as follows:
In the first step, the lower lip retracts into the oral cavity to a position behind the upper teeth. At the same time, the upper lip descends to wrap over the upper teeth. In the second step, the lower lip moves forward quickly, flapping against the upper lip as it exits the oral cavity. It is voiced throughout the articulation. In addition, during the articulation of the sound, the tongue bunches in the back of the mouth, adding a velar component to the sound.[1]
And, for allophony between the bilabial and labiodental flap,
The articulation of the sound consists of two stages. First, the lower lip is retracted slowly into the mouth well behind the upper teeth. Second, the lower lip is brought forward rapidly striking the upper lip or upper teeth in passing.
In the literature, this sound has most often been transcribed with ⟨w̆⟩,[2][3][4] a ⟨w⟩ modified by an extra-short diacritic.[a] A less frequently used alternative transcription is ⟨ⱱ̟⟩,[5][6] a labiodental flap ⟨ⱱ⟩ modified by an advanced diacritic. In addition, the symbol ⟨ⱳ⟩, a W with hook, is supported by SIL Global as a para-IPA transcription for this sound.[7]
Features
Features of a voiced bilabial flap:
- Its manner of articulation is flap, 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 is bilabial, which means it is articulated with both lips.
- 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.
- Because the sound is not produced with airflow over the tongue, the median–lateral dichotomy does not apply.
- 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
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | Taiwanese Hakka Sixian[8] | 𤸁苶苶仔 | [kʰʲoʲ˥ ŋʲap˨ ŋʲaⱱ̟˨ ɛ˥˧] | 'tired' | |
| Mambay[6] | vbwah | [ⱱ̟wâˁħ] | 'fog' | Phonemic. | |
| Mangbetu[2] | [nɔ́w̆à] | 'to refrain' | In free variation with labiodental flap | ||
| Mono[4] | vwa | [w̆a] | 'send' | Contrasts with /v/ and /w/. In free variation with labiodental flap | |