Unflappable? Buckeyes say “whatever” to English flapping rules

Abstract

American English dialects generally use a 'flap/tap' consonant in some places where /t/ or /d/ is both indicated in the spelling and used in some other dialects. What environments allow a flap to occur instead of /t/ or /d/? This question has inspired considerable debate in the literature, but a consensus has settled on a lack of stress on the syllable following as being the most critical factor in the occurrence of a flap word-internally. This study investigates the occurrence of flaps in the Buckeye Corpus of American English (40 speakers from Columbus, OH), detailing the frequency of flapping in various phonetic environments. One significant finding is that all speakers produced some flaps word-internally before syllables bearing primary or secondary stress (as in “whatever”).