Abstract The article examines the sociolinguistic variations of the alveolar tap [ɾ] in Dagbani female names, a Gur language spoken in the northern part of Ghana. It focuses on how the language is losing the pronunciation of the alveolar lateral /l/ in some female names through sound substitution. The sound [ɾ] does not occur in word-initial position in Dagbani, but it is currently prominent in the pronunciation of some Dagbani female names. The article shows that the pronunciation of the alveolar tap [ɾ] in Dagbani speech communities provides the complexity of linguistic variation and language change. It also reveals that while the alveolar lateral /l/ variety is the prestigious form in Dagbani, the alveolar tap [ɾ] variety is spreading due to the Arabic education in the area. The article supports the Labovian paradigm and presents quantitative analysis of the data. The article suggests that the alveolar tap [ɾ] is frequent in the speech of the younger generation, while the alveolar lateral /l/ is frequent in the speech of the older generation.

中文翻译：

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达格巴尼（Dagbani）女性名字中的[ɾ]变体

摘要本文研究了达格巴尼女性名字中的牙槽tap [ɾ]的社会语言变异，这是加纳北部使用的古尔语。它着眼于该语言如何通过声音替换使某些女性姓名的肺泡侧面/ l /失去发音。声音[ɾ]在达格巴尼语中的词首位置不会出现，但目前在某些达格巴尼语女性名字的发音中较为突出。文章显示，Dagbani语音社区中的牙槽tap [ɾ]的发音提供了语言变异和语言变化的复杂性。这也表明，虽然在达格巴尼（Dagbani）中，齿槽外侧/ l /是最有声望的形式，但由于该地区的阿拉伯语教育，齿槽水龙头[ɾ]品种正在普及。本文支持Labovian范式，并提出了对数据的定量分析。该文章建议在年轻一代的言语中经常出现牙槽tap [ɾ]，而在老一代的言语中则经常出现侧面肺泡/ l /。