Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
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:
| IPA | Description | Example | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Language | Orthography | IPA | Meaning | ||
| retroflex nasal | Swedish | Vänern | [ɳ] | Vänern |
| voiceless retroflex plosive | Vietnamese | Nha Trang | [ɲɑ.ɑŋ] | Nha Trang |
| voiced retroflex plosive | Swedish | nord | [nuːɖ] | north |
| voiceless retroflex fricative | Mandarin | 上海 (Shànghǎi) | [ʂɑŋ˥˩.xaj˨˩˦] | Shanghai |
| voiced retroflex fricative | Mandarin | 朱镕基 (Zhū Róngjì) | [ɖ̥͡ʐ̥u˥.ʐʊŋ˧˥.d̥͡ʑ̥i˥˩] | Zhu Rongji |
| retroflex approximant | Tamil | தமிழ் (Tamil) | [tæmɪɻ] | Tamil |
| lateral retroflex approximant | Swedish | Karlstad | [kaɭ.stɑːd̪] | Karlstad |
| retroflex flap | Japanese | 折り紙 (origami) | [oɽigami]] | origami |
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
10-26-2009 08:16:03
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The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details