Retroflex Retroflex

Retroflex - Definition and Overview

Related Words: Allophone, Alveolar, Apical, Arch, Articulation, Aspiration, Assimilated, Assimilation, Back, Bend, Bilabial, Bow, Central, Cerebral, Check, Cock, Consonant
Places of articulation
Labial consonant
Bilabial consonant
Labiodental consonant
Linguolabial consonant
Coronal consonant
Interdental consonant
Dental consonant
Retroflex consonant
Alveolar consonant
Postalveolar consonant
Alveolo-palatal consonant
Dorsal consonant
Palatal consonant
Labial-palatal consonant 
Velar consonant
Labial-velar consonant
Uvular consonant
Pharyngeal consonant
Epiglottal consonant
Glottal consonant
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Retroflex consonants are articulated with the tip of the tongue curled up and back so the bottom of the tip touches the roof of the mouth. Retroflex consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet:

IPA Description Example
Language Orthography IPA Meaning
Image:Xsampa-t'.png voiceless retroflex plosive Vietnamese Nha Trang [ɲɑ.ʈɑŋ] Nha Trang
Image:Xsampa-d'.png voiced retroflex plosive Swedish nord [n̪ʊɖ] north
Image:Xsampa-n'.png nasal retroflex sonorant Swedish Vänern [vɛː.n̪əɳ] Vänern
Image:Xsampa-r'.png retroflex flap Japanese 折り紙 (origami) [oɽigami]] origami
Image:Xsampa-s'.png voiceless retroflex fricative Mandarin 上海 (Shànghǎi) [ʂɑŋ˥˩.xaj˨˩˦] Shanghai
Image:Xsampa-z'.png voiced retroflex fricative Mandarin 朱镕基 (Zhū Róngjì) [ɖ̥͡ʐ̥u˥.ʐʊŋ˧˥.d̥͡ʑ̥i˥˩] Zhu Rongji
Image:Xsampa-rslash'.png retroflex approximant Tamil தமிழ் (Tamil) [tæmɪɻ] Tamil
Image:Xsampa-l'.png lateral retroflex approximant Swedish Karlstad [kaɭ.stɑːd̪] Karlstad


Note: In the International Phonetic Alphabet, the symbols for retroflex consonants are typically the same as for the alveolar consonants, but with the addition of a right-facing hook to the bottom of the symbol.

Retroflex consonants are common in the Indo-Aryan languages and the Dravidian languages; and can also be found in languages such as Mandarin Chinese, Javanese, Vietnamese, Swedish, Norwegian and some languages of Southern Italy and Sardinia.

See also

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