What are retroflex stops?

In phonetics and phonology, a retroflex stop is a type of consonantal sound, made with the tongue curled back and in contact with area behind the alveolar ridge or with the hard palate, held tightly enough to block the passage of air.

What is a retroflex in phonetics?

retroflex, in phonetics, a consonant sound produced with the tip of the tongue curled back toward the hard palate. In Russian the sounds sh, zh (like the English s sound in “pleasure”), and shch are retroflex; there are also many retroflex consonants in the languages of India.

What is retroflex articulation?

A retroflex, apico-domal, or cacuminal (/kæˈkjuːmɪnəl/) consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate. They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants—especially in Indology.

What is a retroflex R?

In American English, two articulatory variants of / r / are commonly found: “bunched” /r/—in which the tongue dorsum is bunched in the region of the palate—and “retroflex”—in which the tongue tip is curled such that the underside faces the alveopalate.

Is retroflex used in English?

It’s common for Indian English-speakers to substitute retroflex ʈ and ɖ where Western English-speakers use [t] and [d], which Indian languages don’t have. This substitution is part of Indian English’s special sound.

Is La retroflex sound?

The retroflex La is a sound present in all the south Indian and West Indian Languages – it is even present in the north Indian languages of Himachal and Uttarakhand.

Is t alveolar or dental?

The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents voiceless dental, alveolar, and postalveolar plosives is ⟨t⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is t .

How do you elicit retroflex r?

Teach the retroflex /r/ (curled) which includes placing the tongue tip behind the upper front teeth; curling the tongue tip backward without touching the roof of the mouth; the lateral sides of the tongue should touch the insides of the upper back molars; and the jaw should be slightly lowered.