2003/01/04 by Kenneth S. Olson, John Hajek · 3 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Social Sciences · #Cleft Lip and Palate Research #Linguistic Variation and Morphology #Swearing, Euphemism, Multilingualism
paper · doi:10.1515/lity.2003.014
openalex publication_date 2003/01/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/30
This paper is a crosslinguistic study of the labial flap ‐ an areal feature concentrated in north central Africa, but also attested in southeastern Africa and Indonesia. It is found in three of the four major African language families, but is likely not traceable to the proto-language of these families. Its most common articulation is a voiced labiodental flap with egressive lung air. It is fully incorporated into the phonological system of at least thirteen languages, and there is good evidence for this in an additional nine languages. Consequently, theories of phonological features or phonetic parameters must take it into account. It is most widely attested in the Adamawa-Ubangi branch of Niger-Congo, and this may be its ultimate source as well, supporting Greenberg’s (1959, 1983) hypothesis concerning the source of some African areal features.