Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
👅 Tongue curled 👅 To curl tongue ↩️ Bent backward ↩️ To bend back
retroflex

retroflex

9.7
A speech sound made with the tongue tip curled back toward the roof of the mouth
  • adjective
  • /ˈrɛtroʊflɛks/
  • Specialized
translation icon : retroflexo
  • When learning how to pronounce certain languages, it's important to master retroflex sounds for clarity.

Examples

  • In Hindi, the sound '्ड़' is an example of a retroflex sound that is pronounced with the tip of the tongue curled back.

  • You can hear those retroflex sounds all through those words, Kingsley.

  • Consider, as an example that is in line with the assumption that motor equivalence is a means of reducing articulatory effort, Westbury et al. (1998), who found that bunched /r/ is preferred in words such as "across" and "street," whereas the retroflex variant is preferred, for example, in "row."

    Academic text (2011)

  • The teacher explained how retroflex sounds are articulated differently than other speech sounds.

Synonyms

cacuminal
vsretroflex
  • Specialized
9.9

A speech sound made with the tongue tip turned back toward the roof of the mouth

is the same articulation described using a different label
retroflexed
vsretroflex
  • Specialized
9.8

A body part that is bent backward, for example a tongue or uterus

refers to the same tongue curling specifically for speech sounds

Surface Forms

retroflex positive

Morphology

retroflex = flex (transparent) = retro + flex

The meaning 'bent or turned back' is directly derived from 'retro-' (back) + 'flex' (bend).

Etymology

Retroflex comes from two Latin parts, retro- meaning 'back' and -flex meaning 'to bend', like in flexible. So a retroflex sound is one where you curl the tip of the tongue back toward the roof of the mouth, which explains the word's meaning.