Retroflex flap

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

The retroflex flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɽ⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is ⟨r`⟩.

Toda has a retroflex trill, which is transcribed with the same IPA symbol.

[edit] Features

Features of the retroflex flap:

Its manner of articulation is 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 retroflex, which prototypically means it is articulated sub-apical - with the tip of the tongue curled up. But more generally it means that it is postalveolar without being palatalized. That is, besides the prototypical sub-apical articulation, the tongue contact can be apical (pointed) or laminal (flat).
Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
The airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the lungs and diaphragm, as in most sounds.

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Enga		yála	[jɑɽɑ]	'shame'
Hausa		bara/?	[bəɽa]	'servant'	represented in Arabic alphabet with a ⟨ر⟩
Hindi		बड़ा	[bəɽɑː]	'big'	represented by ⟨ड़⟩. Hindi contrasts unaspirated and aspirated forms. See Hindi-Urdu phonology
Nepali^[1]		?	[bʱaɽa]	'rent'	See Nepali phonology
Norwegian		blad	[bɽɑː]	'blade'	Used in many dialects. See Norwegian phonology
Portuguese	Some countryside Central-Southern Brazilian dialects^{[citation needed]}	cara	[ˈkaɽɐ]	'face'	Allophone of /ɾ/. See Portuguese phonology
Swedish		blad	[bɽɑː]	'blade'	Used in some dialects. See Swedish phonology
Urdu		بڑا	[bəɽɑː]	'big'	represented by ⟨ڑ⟩. Urdu contrasts unaspirated and aspirated forms. See Hindi-Urdu phonology

Khatiwada, Rajesh (2009), "Nepali", Journal of International Phonetic Association 39 (3): 337–380