# Does any language use the "raspberry" as a phoneme?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-any-language-use-the-raspberry-as-a-phoneme/409268
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 25, 2007, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-any-language-use-the-raspberry-as-a-phoneme/409268 "2007-06-25T01:43:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2007, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-any-language-use-the-raspberry-as-a-phoneme/409268/1 "2007-06-25T01:43:03Z")
You know, the “fffffpppbbbtt!” sound made by sticking out your tongue and blowing, imitating a fart?
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2007, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-any-language-use-the-raspberry-as-a-phoneme/409268/2 "2007-06-25T03:56:40Z")
Sounds like it would be an unvoiced bilabial trill, but I’m not sure. A few languages use it. See [Voiced bilabial trill - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilabial_trill)
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### Author:  [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-any-language-use-the-raspberry-as-a-phoneme/409268/3 "2007-06-25T04:28:56Z")
You mean the venerable bi-labial fricative?
Not sure, outside of rude noises, which seem to be an universal language.
Ah! Wiki claims that it is:
> **[Voiced bilabial fricative](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_bilabial_fricative)**
>
> A voiced bilabial fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is either a Latin or Greek-style beta, ⟨β⟩. This letter is also often used to represent a voiced bilabial approximant, though that is more precisely written with a lowering diacritic, that is ⟨β̞⟩. This sound may also be transcribed as an advanced labiodental approximant ⟨ʋ̟⟩, in which case the diacritic is again frequently omitted...
> [@](#):
>
> The voiced bilabial fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is β, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is B. The symbol β is the Greek letter beta. This symbol is also sometimes used to represent the bilabial approximant, though that is more clearly written with the lowering diacritic, β̞
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### Author:  [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2007, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-any-language-use-the-raspberry-as-a-phoneme/409268/4 "2007-06-25T05:05:58Z")
[Carol Channing has the last word](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6g929abIrs). 😉
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-any-language-use-the-raspberry-as-a-phoneme/409268/5 "2007-06-25T14:30:33Z")
[QUOTE=Tranquilis]
You mean the venerable bi-labial fricative?
Not sure, outside of rude noises, which seem to be an universal language.
Ah! Wiki claims that it is:
> **[Voiced bilabial fricative](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_bilabial_fricative)**
>
> A voiced bilabial fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is either a Latin or Greek-style beta, ⟨β⟩. This letter is also often used to represent a voiced bilabial approximant, though that is more precisely written with a lowering diacritic, that is ⟨β̞⟩. This sound may also be transcribed as an advanced labiodental approximant ⟨ʋ̟⟩, in which case the diacritic is again frequently omitted...
[/QUOTE]
I don’t think the voice bilabial fricative (a common phoneme in language such as Spanish and in Hindi) is the same as the raspberry.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-any-language-use-the-raspberry-as-a-phoneme/409268/6 "2007-06-25T19:16:53Z")
I just tried a few raspberries sitting here, and I don’t seem to have vibrated my vocal cords in the process. So I would categorize the sound as unvoiced.
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### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-any-language-use-the-raspberry-as-a-phoneme/409268/7 "2007-06-25T19:44:49Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos]
I just tried a few raspberries sitting here, and I don’t seem to have vibrated my vocal cords in the process. So I would categorize the sound as unvoiced.
[/QUOTE]
You should be able to voice it if you want. AFAIK, all fricatives and stops can be voiced or unvoiced.
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### Author:  [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-any-language-use-the-raspberry-as-a-phoneme/409268/8 "2007-06-25T19:46:46Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus]
You should be able to voice it if you want. AFAIK, all fricatives and stops can be voiced or unvoiced.
[/QUOTE]
[h] can’t really be voiced.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-any-language-use-the-raspberry-as-a-phoneme/409268/9 "2007-06-25T20:06:31Z")
[QUOTE=fachverwirrt]
[h] can’t really be voiced.
[/QUOTE]
According to the wikipedia entry on the voiced glottal fricative, it does appear in English as well as in other languages.
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### Author:  [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-any-language-use-the-raspberry-as-a-phoneme/409268/10 "2007-06-25T20:15:56Z")
God, linguistics makes me hot. Bi-labial fricative! _man-swoon_
As for the question, I’ll shoot my old psycholinguistics professor an e-mail and get back to you.
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### Author:  [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-any-language-use-the-raspberry-as-a-phoneme/409268/11 "2007-06-25T21:23:54Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray]
According to the wikipedia entry on the voiced glottal fricative, it does appear in English as well as in other languages.
[/QUOTE]
From the article:
_It is a transitional state of the glottis. It has no manner of articulation other than its phonation type. Because there is no other constriction to produce friction in the vocal tract, **most phoneticians no longer consider ɦ to be a fricative**. True fricatives may have a murmured phonation in addition to producing friction elsewhere. However, the term “fricative” is generally retained for the historical reasons._
Emphasis mine.
On the other hand, more or less the exact same phrase appears in the article for the voiceless glottal fricative.
The conclusion being: I was wrong about there being no voiced equivalent, and I was wrong about [h] being a fricative.
And everyone knows, two wrongs make a left. Right?
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2007, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-any-language-use-the-raspberry-as-a-phoneme/409268/12 "2007-06-25T21:43:18Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray]
I don’t think the voice bilabial fricative (a common phoneme in language such as Spanish and in Hindi) is the same as the raspberry.
[/QUOTE]
A bilabial trill would be, though.
eta: Crap, skipped the second post which already explains this.