retroflex

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“
Then in South Asia you've got the retroflex consonants, and in the Middle East you've got the glottal stops and pharyngeal fricatives and whatnot.

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Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. adjective Bent, curved, or turned backward.
  2. adjective Pronounced with the tip of the tongue turned back against the roof of the mouth.
  3. noun A sound pronounced with the tongue in retroflex position, as the sound (r) in some varieties of English.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

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Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (4)

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Examples (6)

  • The alveolar click was referred to as a retroflex click in some early studies and its symbol, the exclamation point, is derived from a dental click slash / with the dot under it that linguists use for retroflex sounds References Barnard, Alan (1992) Hunters and Herders of Southern Africa . —  AnalogSFF,May2008
  • Dravidian languages are also characterized by a three-way distinction between retroflex places of articulation as well as large numbers of —  Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en]
  • Then in South Asia you've got the retroflex consonants, and in the Middle East you've got the glottal stops and pharyngeal fricatives and whatnot. —  Think Progress
  • All South Asian languages have these retroflex forms, so that retroflexion in the extant RgVeda is explained only by —  The Civic Platform - A Political Journal of Ideas and Analysis
  • PHONOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES - CONSONANT PHONEMES Problem 5: The English retroflex / / / does not have a similar sound in Portuguese, except in one dialect in certain areas of the state of São Paulo. —  Recently Uploaded Slideshows
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin *retrōflexus, past participle of retrōflectere, to bend back : retrō, retro- + flectere, to bend.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Latin retroflexus, past participle of retroflectere, bend back, from retro, back, + flectere, bend: see flex.
 

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/ˈritrəflɛks/
by American Heritage

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