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.
In Mono, the sound has been described as follows:
And, for allophony between the bilabial and labiodental flap,
In the literature, this sound has most often been transcribed with , a modified by an extra-short diacritic. A less frequently used alternative transcription is , a labiodental flap modified by an advanced diacritic. In addition, the symbol , a W with hook, is supported by SIL Global as a para-IPA transcription for this sound."IPA (SIL) Keyboard Help", help.keyman.com
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.
Occurrence Language Word IPA Meaning NotesChineseTaiwanese Hakka Sixian𤸁苶苶仔'tired' Mambay vbwah 'fog' Phonemic. Mangbetu 'to refrain' In free variation with labiodental flap Mono vwa 'send' Contrasts with and . In free variation with labiodental flap
Notes
References
Further reading
Olson and Hajek, 2001. 'The Geographic and Genetic Distribution of the Labial Flap'
External links