Voiced alveolar lateral flap
Consonantal sounds represented by ⟨ɺ⟩ in IPA
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A voiced alveolar lateral flap is a type of consonantal sound, found in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɺ⟩, a fusion of a rotated lowercase letter ⟨r⟩ with a letter ⟨l⟩. Approved in 1928, the symbol represented a sound intermediate between [d] and [l][1][2] or between [r] and [l][3][4] until 1979, when its value was redefined as an alveolar lateral flap.[5]
| Voiced alveolar lateral flap | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɺ | |||
| IPA number | 181 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ɺ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+027A | ||
| X-SAMPA | l\ | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
Some languages that are described as having a lateral flap actually have a flap that is indeterminate with respect to centrality, and may surface as either central or lateral, either in free variation or allophonically depending on surrounding vowels and consonants.[6]
Additionally, some languages have a voiced postalveolar lateral flap, which can be transcribed in the IPA with the retracted diacritic, such as ⟨ɺ̠⟩.
Features
Features of a voiced alveolar lateral flap:
- 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 alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
- 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 lateral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream over the sides of the tongue, rather than down the middle.
- Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.
Occurrence
Alveolar
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baniwa[7] | riwadzore | [ɺiwa'dzoɺe] | 'ember' | Varies a median flap, but is lateral in careful pronunciation.[7] | |
| Chaga (Vunjo dialect)[8] | iraa | [iɺaa] | 'to dress oneself' | Contrasts with /l̪/ | |
| Iwaidja | ayanjildin[9] | [ajanɟiɺin] | 'sweetheart' | Contrasts /l, ɺ, ɭ , ɭ̆ / and possibly /ʎ, ʎ̮/. | |
| Japanese[10] | 六 roku | [ɺo̞kɯ̟ᵝ] | 'six' | Allophonically [ɾ]. See Japanese phonology | |
| 心 kokoro | [ko̞ko̞ɺo̞] | 'heart' | |||
| Kasua[11] | hilila | [hiɺiɺɑ] | 'heavy' | Never used at the beginning nor the end of a word.[11] | |
| Wayuu | püülükü | [pɨːɺɨkɨ] | 'pig' | Contrasts with /r/. | |
| Yalë[12] | Yalë | [jaɺɛ] | 'Yalë' | In free variation with [d]; written as ⟨d⟩ or ⟨l⟩. | |