[ɖ]→[ɾ]Certainty: 4/5Commonality: 4/5
Voiced retroflex stop to Voiced alveolar flap
The transformation from a voiced retroflex stop /ɖ/ to a voiced alveolar flap /ɾ/ represents a common lenition process in phonology. This shift involves both a change in the manner of articulation, from a complete closure (stop) to a brief, ballistic contact (flap), and a change in the place of articulation, moving from the retroflex position (tongue tip curled back behind the alveolar ridge) to the alveolar ridge (deretroflexion). This makes the articulation less constricted and more anterior.
Phonetic Effects
Lenition, Deretroflexion
Language Examples
/ɖ/→/ɾ/— The voiced retroflex stop /ɖ/ is realized as a voiced alveolar flap /ɾ/ intervocalically and in word-final position.
Related Transformations
More Lenition Shifts
Sources & References
- De Jong, K. (2009). Explaining Coronal Reduction: Prosodic Structure and Articulatory Posture. Journal of Phonetics, 37(1), 1–18.
- Kirchner, R. (1998). Lenition and the Perception of Prominence. In K. Shahin, S. Blake, & E. Kim (Eds.), Proceedings of the West Coast Conference on Formal Linguistics (WCCFL) 17 (pp. 333-347). Cascadilla Press.
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