Flapping

Common card · No. 403207

Flapping or tapping, also known as alveolar flapping, intervocalic flapping, or t-voicing, is a phonological process involving the phonemes /t/ and sometimes /d/ being pronounced as voiced alveolar taps or flaps [ɾ] (sounds produced by briefly tapping the alveolar ridge with the tongue) when occurring between vowels. It is found in many varieties of English, especially North American, Cardiff, Ulster, Australian and New Zealand English. In London English, the flapped [ɾ] is perceived as a casual pronunciation intermediate between the affricate [tsʰ] with higher class associations, and the glottal stop [ʔ] with lower class associations. In these named varieties, outside of Britain, /d/, the voiced counterpart of /t/, is also frequently pronounced as a flap in such positions, making pairs of words like latter and ladder sound similar or identical. In similar positions, the combination /nt/ may be pronounced as a nasalized flap [ɾ̃], making winter sound similar or identical to winner. Flapping...

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