Meet the labiodental flap

UCLA emeritus professor of linguistics Peter Ladefoged gets credit in today's New York Times for inspiring the rare addition of a new symbol to the international phonetic alphabet. The labiodental flap is described this way: "a buzz sometimes capped by a faint pop, [it] is present in more than 70 African languages. It is produced by the lower lip moving back and forward, flapping on the inside of the upper teeth." It is far more common than the already-symboled bilabial click, but hasn't gotten as much good press through the centuries, Professor Ladefoged says. Before it could be recognized, the NYT points out, analysis had to prove that "the sound was, in fact, a flap, not a fricative consonant like the 'f' of English." Ixnay on the fricative, got it.