A voiced retroflex flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɽ⟩, a letter r with a tail.

Features

Features of a voiced retroflex flap:

Occurrence

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Bengaliগাড়ি[ɡaɽi]'car'Apical postalveolar. See Bengali phonology
DutchNorth Brabantriem[ɽim]'belt'A rare word-initial variant of /r/. Realization of /r/ varies considerably among dialects. See Dutch phonology
Northern Netherlands
Elfdalianluv[ɽʏːv]'permission'
Engala[jɑɽɑ]'shame'
Gokanabele[beːɽeː]'we'Apical postalveolar. Allophone of /l/, medially between vowels within the morpheme, and finally in the morpheme before a following vowel in the same word. It can be a postalveolar trill or simply [l] instead.
Hausabara[bəɽä]'servant'Represented in Arabic script with ⟨ر⟩
HindustaniHindiड़ा'big'Apical postalveolar; contrasts unaspirated and aspirated forms. See Hindustani phonology
Urduبڑا
Kashmiriبَڑُن[bəɽun]'to grow'
Nepaliभाड़ा[bʱäɽä]'rent'Apical postalveolar; postvocalic allophone of /ɖ,ɖʱ/. See Nepali phonology
NorwegianCentral dialectsl[']erenga'Vålerenga'Allophone of /l/ and /r/. In Urban East Norwegian it often alternates with the alveolar [ɾ], save for a small number of words. See Norwegian phonology
Eastern dialects
Odiaଗାଡ଼ି[ɡäɽiː]'car'Apical postalveolar; postvocalic allophone of /ɖ,ɖʱ/.
Parkari Koliۿُونَواڙ[ɦuːnaʋaːɽ]'desolate, deserted'
PortugueseSome European speakersfalar[fɐˈläɽ]'to speak'Allophone of /ɾ/. See Portuguese phonology
Brazilian caipira speakersmadeira[mäˈd̪eɽə]'wood'
Some sertanejo speakersgargalhar[ɡäɽɡäˈʎäɽ]'to guffaw'
PunjabiGurmukhiਘੋੜਾ'horse'
Shahmukhiگھوڑا
Scottish GaelicLewisthuirt[hʉɽʈ]'said'Possible realisation of /rˠ/.
Shipibororo[ˈɽo̽ɽo̽]'to break'Apical postalveolar; possible realization of /r/.
SwedishSome dialectsflagga'[a] flag'Allophone of retroflexed /rd/ ([ɖ]) and (single) /l/, the former especially after labials, velars or long vowels. See Swedish phonology
Tamilநாடு / نَاڊُ'country'Intervocalic and word-medial allophone of /ʈ/. See Tamil phonology
Teluguగోడు'grief'Allophone of /ɖ/.
TukanoYe’pâ-Masapetâ-de[pɛ̀ɛ̥̀táɽɛ᷆]'(relative to the) port'Realisation of ⟨d⟩ in certain positions. Nasalised [ɽ͂] in nasal contexts.
Wapishana[pɨɖaɽɨ]'your father'
Warlpirijarda[caɽa]'sleep'Transcribes /ɽ/ as ⟨rd⟩.
Yidiny[gambi:ɽ]'tablelands'

Voiced retroflex nasal flap

Features

Features of a retroflex nasal tap or flap:

  • Its manner of articulation is tap or flap, which means it is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator (usually the tongue) is thrown against another.
  • Its place of articulation is retroflex, which prototypically means it is articulated subapical (with the tip of the tongue curled up), but more generally, it means that it is postalveolar without being palatalized. That is, besides the prototypical subapical articulation, the tongue can be apical (pointed) or, in some fricatives, laminal (flat).
  • Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
  • It is a nasal consonant, which means air is exclusively allowed to escape through the nose for nasal stops; otherwise, in addition to through the mouth.
  • It is a median consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream down the midline of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
  • Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
Hindiगणेश Gaeśa[ɡəɽ̃eːʃ]'Ganesha'Allophone of /ɳ/ when not in clusters
Ndrumbea/t̠ɽáɽẽ/[t̠áɽ̃ã́ɻ̃ẽ]'to run'Allophone of /ɽ/ before a nasal vowel
Kangriन्ह़ौणा[nɔ̌ɽ̃ɑ]'to bathe'

See also

Notes

External links