retroflex consonant

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:

rowspan="2" style="border:1px solid black; background: gray; color: white"\| IPA	rowspan="2" style="border:1px solid black; background: gray; color: white"\| Description	style="border:1px solid black; background: gray; color: white" colspan="4"\| Example
style="border:1px solid black; background: gray; color: white"\|Language	style="border:1px solid black; background: gray; color: white"\|Orthography	style="border:1px solid black; background: gray; color: white"\|IPA	style="border:1px solid black; background: gray; color: white"\|Meaning
style="border:1px solid black"\|	style="border:1px solid black"\|voiceless retroflex plosive	style="border:1px solid black"\|Vietnamese	style="border:1px solid black"\|Nha Trang	style="border:1px solid black"\|[]	style="border:1px solid black"\|Nha Trang
style="border:1px solid black"\|	style="border:1px solid black"\|voiced retroflex plosive	style="border:1px solid black"\|Swedish	style="border:1px solid black"\|nord	style="border:1px solid black"\|style="color:#700000; font-weight:bold">	style="border:1px solid black"\|north
style="border:1px solid black"\|	style="border:1px solid black"\| nasal retroflex sonorant	style="border:1px solid black"\|Swedish	style="border:1px solid black"\|Vnern	style="border:1px solid black"\|style="color:#700000; font-weight:bold">	style="border:1px solid black"\|Vnern
style="border:1px solid black"\|	style="border:1px solid black"\|retroflex flap	style="border:1px solid black"\|Japanese	style="border:1px solid black"\|折り紙 (origami)	style="border:1px solid black"\|style="color:#700000; font-weight:bold">]	style="border:1px solid black"\|origami
style="border:1px solid black"\|	style="border:1px solid black"\|voiceless retroflex fricative	style="border:1px solid black"\|Mandarin	style="border:1px solid black"\|上海 (Shnghǎi)	style="border:1px solid black"\|style="color:#700000; font-weight:bold">	style="border:1px solid black"\|Shanghai
style="border:1px solid black"\|	style="border:1px solid black"\|voiced retroflex fricative	style="border:1px solid black"\|Mandarin	style="border:1px solid black"\|朱镕基 (Zhū Rngj)	style="border:1px solid black"\|style="color:#700000; font-weight:bold">	style="border:1px solid black"\|Zhu Rongji
style="border:1px solid black"\|	style="border:1px solid black"\|retroflex approximant	style="border:1px solid black"\|Tamil	style="border:1px solid black"\|தமிழ் (Tamil)	style="border:1px solid black"\|style="color:#700000; font-weight:bold">	style="border:1px solid black"\|Tamil
style="border:1px solid black"\|	style="border:1px solid black"\|lateral retroflex approximant	style="border:1px solid black"\|Swedish	style="border:1px solid black"\|Karlstad	style="border:1px solid black"\|style="color:#700000; font-weight:bold">	style="border:1px solid black"\|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.

Retroflex Consonant

See also