ABSTRACT

It is well-known in the literature that in American English, but not in British English, the alveolar stop Itl is often realized as a 'flap' [r] (sometimes called 'tap') when it immediately follows a stressed vowel. A flap is produced when the tongue makes a single flap against the alveolar ridge . Thus in colloquial speech a word such as 'city' is pronounced as ['sin] in American English, in contrast to the British English pronunciation ['sitl] .