/&/ – Voiced Alveolar Flap
Notes:
Features:
- Place of Articulation: Alveolar
- Manner of Articulation: Tap
- Phonation: Voiced
Video Library:
Alveolar Tap in Isolation
Part 1: Awareness
As I said before, mastering the Alveolar Tap “Spanish R” sound may be the biggest challenge for you. Compared to other sounds, it requires more coordination and strength to articulate. The difficulty magnifies since this is one of the most common sounds in Spanish.
Making this sound many times per second is physically challenging. With repetition and drills, like the thousands of other students I’ve seen, you can bring your taps up to speed.
The first step in this process is developing an awareness of the Spanish R sound. This means discovering where it occurs in the mouth as well as the manner of articulation.
Let’s start by taking the English consonants /d/ /t/ and /n/. Take your tongue and make each of these sounds and note where you put the tip of your tongue (it’s the alveolar ridge). The Spanish R sound is made at this exact spot, too (hence the term Alveolar Tap).
There is one major difference between the /d/ and /l/ sounds and the Spanish R sound: length.
For /d/ /l/ and /n/, there is a certain amount of time required to make the sound. If you create a /d/ /l/ or /n/ movement in less than that time, you are effectively making an Alveolar Tap.
In other words, making the /d/ /t/ or /l/ sounds really fast and you will create a tap sound.
To show you, repeat after me in the audio below. Eventually, your tongue will be moving so fast that the consonant will evolve into an alveolar tap /&/.
In addition, try listening and mimicking after the speaker in the audio file below.
ir [i&], hora [o̞.&ä], eres [e̞.&e̞s], cara [kä.&ä], triste [t̪&is.t̪e̞], mar [mä&], amor [ä.mo̞&], revisar [&e̞.βi.sä&], viajar [βi.ä.xä&], amar [ä.mä&]
Part 2: Strength & Endurance
You will probably not be able to move your tongue this fast for now, but you can build your speed with practice. To help, I’ve created the following two drills.
The audio files below represent one “set” each. Complete 5 sets per training session and at least one set per day (ideally morning and night). The more you push yourself to burnout, the faster your tongue muscles and neural connections will build.
- Make the sound /&a/
- Repeat the sound over and over again
- Gradually build the speed until you are unable to go any faster
- Repeat five times
- Start by saying the sound “&a” once per beat
- Double the speed for two measures
- Double the speed again for two measures
- Return to the original speed
- Do this five times continuously without dropping the beat
- Once you can do this easily, increase the tempo slightly
After a session of doing these drills, your mouth will feel fatigued. This is how you know you did enough work. Any fatigue you feel today will translate to new ability tomorrow.
Once you build the speed on your tap in isolation, your next task is to practice combining the tap with other Spanish consonants. Remember, you can refer back to this drill set whenever you like.
Alveolar Easy Combos
The clusters below represent all the “easy” consonant clusters of Spanish. I refer to them as easy because the sounds before and after /&/ use completely different speech organ articulators. In other words, your articulation of the second consonant sound won’t interfere with making the tap sound /&/.
Do as I do in the audio files below to practice articulation of these easy combos.
/p/ and /b/
/k/ and /g/
/f/ and /m/
Alveolar Tricky Combos
The drills below will help you articulate the “tricky” alveolar tap consonant clusters. In contrast to the easy combos, these use the tongue, which is the same articulator used for the alveolar tap. So instead of articulating before or after an easy consonant or vowel, you are using your tongue in a quick 1-2 type movement here.
Although you still need to learn them, the good news is that they are not used that often. Listen carefully to the drills below and repeat after me.
Alveolar Difficult Combos
Combining some of the alveolar consonants (/d̪/ /t̪/) with the alveolar tap can be quite difficult. What’s more, these are very common and are always articulated completely. So it’s important to spend a lot of time getting these right.
If you recall from Spanish Tricky Consonants Module, the Spanish /d̪/ and /t̪/ differ from the English /d/ and /t/ in the part of the tongue used. So what’s the significance of this?
- Combining the English /d/ and /t/ with /&/ sound requires the same part of your tongue to strike the same part of your mouth TWO times. It is impossible to do this with any kind of real speed.
- Combining the Spanish /d̪/ and /t̪/ with /&/ is done in ONE smooth motion. Any Spanish speaker can perform this fluid movement quickly.
- Therefore the only way to consistently hit these combos at fast speed is if you do the Spanish /d̪/ and /t̪/ sounds (blade of the tongue; NOT tip of the tongue).
This is why I always emphasize your building a habit of ALWAYS making the /d̪/ and /t̪/ sounds. The acoustic differences between these sounds is small, but the physiological effects are huge.
Workout Plan
To get the full benefits out of these drills, you need a structure in practicing them. In general, your goal should be to workout until you feel “fatigue” in your mouth. Any soreness you feel today will translate to newfound strength and speed tomorrow.
Try this regimen:
- The audio files for Level 1 represent one set. As a warm-up, do 5 sets each for /d̪/ and /t̪/.
- Do 10 sets each of Level 2 /d̪/ and /t̪/
- Set a timer and do Level 3 at a comfortable speed for 1 minute and 30 seconds for one set. Do 3 sets each for /d̪/ and /t̪/, taking a short break between sets to rest your mouth.
If you really want to push yourself, try to do two sessions a day, one in the morning and one before bed.
If you do this consistently for 2 weeks, eventually you will never struggle with these combos in normal Spanish Speech.
Build Awareness
Level 1 gets you started by placing each vowel in between the two consonants. This will build the basic tongue flick motion that you need for the actual consonant combo.
Build Strength
Level 2 will build your strength and speed. Choose a vowel (e.g. /u/) and start by placing it between the two consonants (e.g. d̪u&a). Chant this two-sylllable consonant over again over again while gradually building the speed. Eventually, you will go so fast that you will have to drop the vowel and create the consonant combo (e.g. d̪&a). Keep building the speed until you burn out.
Build Endurance
Level 3 will build your consistency and precision. Choose any vowel (e.g. /e/) and make the consonant combo sound with either consonant (e.g. d̪&e). Clap a stead beat and repeat that sound on each beat for a full measure. Then, while keeping the same beat, do it double time and chant the two twice per beat for a whole measure. Then go back to once per measure, and etc.
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