flap (n.)

A term used in the PHONETIC classification of CONSONANT sounds on the basis of their MANNER OF ARTICULATION; it refers to any sound produced by a single rapid contact between two organs of articulation (excluding VOCAL FOLD vibration). The usual occurrence of this is in the production of types of r sound, as when in English very the r is produced by the TIP of the TONGUE in a flapped articulation against the ALVEOLAR ridge (transcribed ). The main PHONETIC contrast is between this sound and the TRILL, where several vibrations are involved. Some phoneticians distinguish systematically between flaps and TAPS, on the grounds that in the case of flaps the articulator which makes the contact is returning to a position of rest, whereas in the case of taps this is not so, and the contact resembles a very rapid STOP articulation. Such a distinction has been cited for Hausa and Tamil, but it is not common.