We tend to see /R/ and /r/ as discreet, but would i be correct in saying that on can have a flapped /R/ with the laxity of /r/, like say, one could say in Bord Gáis, a sort of flapped /r/?

It is no surprise that articulation runs on a continuum rather than seperate blocks, but is therte any research pointing to this?

There are 2 sorts of broad r:

- /R/ a trilled one (more than one tap with the tongue)
- /r/ a one-tap alveolar r

Most of the time, in consonants clusters, when you have r + consonant, the r is /R/. Bord is /bo:Rd/.