# Voiced retroflex flap

The 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 tail, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r`.

## Features

Features of the voiced retroflex 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 an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
* It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
* Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

## Occurrence

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Bengali | Bengali | গাড়ি | [ɡaɽi] | 'car' | Apical postalveolar. See Bengali phonology |
| Dutch | North Brabant | riem | [ɽim] | 'belt' | A rare word-initial variant of /r/. Realization of /r/ varies considerably among dialects. See Dutch phonology |
| Dutch | Northern Netherlands | riem | [ɽim] | 'belt' | A rare word-initial variant of /r/. Realization of /r/ varies considerably among dialects. See Dutch phonology |
| Elfdalian | Elfdalian | luv | [ɽʏːv] | 'permission' | |
| Enga | Enga | yála | [jɑɽɑ] | 'shame' | |
| Gokana | Gokana | bele | [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. |
| Hausa | Hausa | bara | [bəɽä] | 'servant' | Represented in Arabic script with ⟨ر⟩ |
| Hindustani | Hindi | बड़ा | [bəɽäː] | 'big' | Apical postalveolar; contrasts unaspirated and aspirated forms. See Hindustani phonology |
| Hindustani | Urdu | بڑا | [bəɽäː] | 'big' | Apical postalveolar; contrasts unaspirated and aspirated forms. See Hindustani phonology |
| Nepali | Nepali | भाडा | [bʱäɽä] | 'rent' | Apical postalveolar; postvocalic allophone of /ɖ, ɖʱ/. See Nepali phonology |
| Norwegian | Central dialects | blad | [bɽɑː] | 'leaf' | 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 |
| Norwegian | Eastern dialects | blad | [bɽɑː] | 'leaf' | 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 |
| Odia | Odia | ଗାଡ଼ି | [ɡäɽiː] | 'car' | Apical postalveolar; postvocalic allophone of /ɖ, ɖʱ/. |
| Okinawan | Okinawan | karatii | [kaɽatii] | 'karate' | Intervocalic allophone of /ɾ/. |
| Parkari Koli | Parkari Koli | ۿُونَواڙ‎ | [ɦuːnaʋaːɽ] | 'desolate, deserted' | |
| Portuguese | Some European speakers | falar | [fɐˈläɽ] | 'to speak' | Allophone of /ɾ/. See Portuguese phonology |
| Portuguese | Brazilian caipira speakers | madeira | [mäˈd̪eɽə] | 'wood' | Allophone of /ɾ/. See Portuguese phonology |
| Portuguese | Some sertanejo speakers | gargalhar | [ɡäɽɡäˈʎäɽ] | 'to guffaw' | Allophone of /ɾ/. See Portuguese phonology |
| Punjabi | Gurmukhi | ਘੋੜਾ | [gʱòːɽaː] | 'horse' | |
| Punjabi | Shahmukhi | گھوڑا | [gʱòːɽaː] | 'horse' | |
| Scottish Gaelic | Lewis | thuirt | [hʉɽʈ] | 'said' | Possible realisation of /rˠ/. |
| Shipibo | Shipibo | roro | [ˈɽo̽ɽo̽] | 'to break' | Apical postalveolar; possible realization of /r/. |
| Swedish | Some dialects | blad | [bɽɑː(d)] | 'leaf' | Allophone of /l/ and /ɖ/. See Swedish phonology |
| Tamil | Tamil | நாடு / نَاڊُ‎ | [naːɽɯ] | 'country' | Intervocalic and word-medial allophone of /ʈ/. See Tamil phonology |
| Telugu | Telugu | గోడు | [goːɽu] | 'grief' | Allophone of /ɖ/ |
| Tukano | Ye’pâ-Masa | petâ-de | [pɛ̀ɛ̥̀táɽɛ᷆] | '(relative to the) port' | Realisation of ⟨d⟩ in certain positions. Nasalised [ɽ͂] in nasal contexts. |
| Wapishana | Wapishana | [pɨɖaɽɨ] | [pɨɖaɽɨ] | 'your father' | |
| Warlpiri | Warlpiri | jarda | [caɽa] | 'sleep' | Transcribes /ɽ/ as rd. |
| Yidiny | Yidiny | [gambi:ɽ] | [gambi:ɽ] | 'tablelands' | |