Non English Consonants Part II

Eric Armstrong

14 Non English Consonants Part II

Post-Alveolar

Having already met the only Post-Alveolar consonants in the ipa, the fricatives /ʃ, ʒ/ and the affricates [tʃ, dʒ], thereʼs not much else to do here. It is worth noting that these sounds do serve as a starting place for other places, the Alveolo-Palatal fricatives, which we’ll get to when we look at the “Other” sounds of the ipa chart, /ɕ, ʑ/, and the Retroflex fricatives, which are conveniently up next!

Retroflex

The first new place we’ll meet is the Retroflex place; the term literally means “bending back”. On the ipa pulmonic consonant chart, Retroflex is a column between post-alveolar, where /ʃ, ʒ/ live, and palatal, where /j/ is made. Retroflex consonants, due to their back-bending nature, tend to colour segments that precede them with an r-ishness or rhotic quality. They can be made with the tip of the tongue, or the underside of the tongue tip, articulating slightly further back than where /ʃ/ is made. In many instances, you can extrapolate a retroflex consonant from a parallel alveolar one, merely by trying to say the alveolar one with your tongue curling back.

The retroflex symbols all feature a right-hook descender coming off the bottom of the familiar symbol you know from the alveolar place. So we get:

Alveolar [s] → Retroflex [ʂ]

Alveolar [z] → Retroflex [ʐ]

Alveolar [n] → Retroflex [ɳ]

etc.

Retroflex consonants are common in South Asian languages, and accents of English associated with them, but also can be found in languages of Africa, Oceania, Australia, Southeast Asia, Scandinavia, and Asia.

Right Tail T: [ʈ]

Symbol	Name	Notes
[ʈ]	Right Tail T	Make a lower-case <t>, but extend the vertical stroke below the baseline, as if making a tall backwards <j>, without a dot.
	The Sound & the Action: Right Tail T [ʈ] is a voiceless, plosive sound, which is articulated with the tip of the tongue curling backward, and the underside of the tip of the tongue touching behinf the alveolar ridge. Begin to produce the [ʈ] sound with slightly parted lips, with the tongue in a retroflex position (meaning the tongue’s tip is curling backward), to stop the airstream, with the soft palate lifted. The air pressure is then released forward by releasing the tongue from its initial position. The sound is produced in the front of the mouth and does not require the onset of voice. In many cases, the voiceless retroflex plosive is unaspirated [ʈ˭], but it can also be aspirated [ʈʰ], and languages that use it, such as Gujarati or Marathi, have both forms. View an MRI of [ʈ] ^[1]
	Linguistic Term: Voiced retroflex stop (plosive).
	Examples (from Wikipedia): Bengali  টাকা [ʈaka] ‘taka’ Hindustani  टोपी [ʈopi] ‘hat’ Javanese bathang [baʈang] ‘cadaver’ Marathi बटाटा [bəʈaːʈaː] ‘potato’ Norwegian  kort  [kɔʈː] ‘card’

Right Tail D: [ɖ]

Symbol	Name	Notes
[ɖ]	Right Tail D	Make a lower-case <d>, but as you make the vertical stroke, continue down past the baseline, as if making a backwards <j>.
	The Sound & the Action: Right Tail D [ɖ] is a voiced, plosive sound, which is articulated with the tip of the tongue curling backward, and the underside of the tip of the tongue touching behind the alveolar ridge. Begin to produce the [ɖ] sound with slightly parted lips, with the tongue in a retroflex position to block the airstream, with the soft palate lifted. The air pressure is then released forward by releasing the tongue from its initial position. The sound is produced in the front of the mouth and requires the onset of voice. View an MRI of [ɖ] ^[2]
	Linguistic Term: Voiced retroflex stop (plosive).
	Examples (from Wikipedia): Bangla/Bengali  ডাকাত [ɖäkät̪] ‘robber’ Hindustani  डालना [ɖäːlnäː] ‘to put’ Nepali  डर [ɖʌr] ‘fear’ Norwegian  varde  [ˈʋɑɖːə] ‘beacon’ Somali  dhul  [ɖul] ‘earth, land, ground’

Retroflex Nasal

Right Tail N: [ɳ]

Symbol	Name	Notes
[ɳ]	Right Tail N	To make the ɳ symbol, start with your regular <n>, and then continue below the baseline to make a backwards <j>.
	The Sound & the Action: Right Tail N [ɳ] is a voiced retroflex nasal sound, which is articulated with the underside of the tongue pressing against the front of the hard palate, with the soft palate relaxed to let the sound out the nose. Begin to produce the [ɳ] sound with partially opened lips, with the underside of your tongue tip pressing up against the front of the hard palate, stopping the airstream. The air pressure is then released forward by releasing the tongue off its initial position. The sound is produced in the nose and requires the onset of voice. View an MRI of [ɳ] ^[3]
	Linguistic Term: Voiced retroflex nasal.
	Examples (from Wikipedia): Enindhilyagwa yingarna [jiŋaɳa] “snake” Marathi bāṇa [baːɳ] “arrow” Nepali aṇḍā [ʌɳɖä] “egg” Punjabi purāṇā [pʊraːɳaː] “old” Tamil aṇal [aɳal] “neck”

Retroflex Flap

Right Tail R: [ɽ]

Symbol	Name	Notes
[ɽ]	Right Tail R	Make a standard orthographic <r>, but add the “backwards <j>” at the bottom of the symbol. Those who are used to a “down-up” action in making their <r> letter will likely need to lift their pen to add the second stroke.
	The Sound & the Action: [ɽ] is a voiced, retroflex flap sound, which is articulated with the tip of the tongue curling backward, and it briefly hits the alveolar ridge with the underside of the tongue tip as the tongue moves back down to behind the lower front teeth. Similar to the Tap place, a Flap is a “glancing blow” as the tongue curls back and then touches the gum ridge as it moves to its next place of articulation. It feels a bit like you are making a whip-like action drawing the tongue back and then flicking the underside of the tongue against the alveolar ridge. View an MRI of [ɽ] ^[4]
	Linguistic Term: Voiced retroflex flap/tap.
	Examples (from Wikipedia): Dutch riem [ɽim] “belt” Gokana bele [beɽe] “we” Hausa bara [bəɽä] “servant” Norwegian blad [bɽaː] “leaf” Telugu గోడు [goːɽu] “grief”

Retroflex Fricatives

Right Tail S: [ʂ]

Symbol	Name	Notes
[ʂ]	Right Tail S	Assuming you start your symbol from the top, make a lowercase <s> and then add a short backwards <j> on the end of it.
	The Sound & the Action: Right Tail S [ʂ] is a sibilant (hissy), voiceless, retroflex fricative sound, which is produced with the tip of the tongue curling backward. Begin to produce the [ʂ] sound with the tongue in a retroflex position (meaning the tongue’s tip is curling backward), and with the soft palate lifted to block the airstream from going out the nose. The air is then released forward through the [ʂ]-shaped vocal tract, with a groove on the underside of the tongue that is narrow enough to cause turbulent airflow. The sound is produced in the middle of the mouth and does not require the onset of voice. It should sound signficantly lower-pitched than the /ʃ/ sound. View an MRI of [ʂ] ^[5]
	Linguistic Term: Voiceless retroflex fricative.
	Examples (from Wikipedia): Abkhaz амш/amš [amʂ] “day” Faroese fýrs [fʊʂ] “eighty” Nepali षष्ठी/šóšṭhī [sʌʂʈʰi] “Shashthi (day)” Norwegian norsk [nɔʂk] “Norwegian” Torwali šeš [ʂeʂ] “thin rope”

Right Tail Z: [ʐ]

Symbol	Name	Notes
[ʐ]	Right Tail Z	Starting at the top left, make your <z> letter, and then add a tiny backwards <j> at the end.
	The Sound & the Action: Right Tail Z [ʐ] is a sibilant (hissy), voiced, retroflex fricative sound, which is produced with the tip of the tongue curling backward. Begin to produce the [ʐ] sound with the tongue in a retroflex position (meaning the tongue’s tip is curling backward), and with the soft palate lifted to block the airstream from going out the nose. The voiced sound is then released forward through the [ʐ]-shaped vocal tract, with a groove on the underside of the tongue which is narrow enough to cause turbulent airflow. The sound is produced in the middle of the mouth and requires the onset of voice. It should sound signficantly lower-pitched than the /ʒ/ sound. View an MRI of [ʐ] ^[6]
	Linguistic Term: Voiced retroflex fricative.
	Examples (from Wikipedia): Faroese renn [ʐɛn] “run” Pashto tâjai [ˈtəʐai] “thirsty” Romagnol diṣ [ˈdiːʐ] “ten” Andean Spanish fri [fʐi] “free” Ukrainian žaba [ˈʐɑbɐ] “frog”

Retroflex Approximant

Turned Right Tail R: [ɻ]

Symbol	Name	Notes
[ɻ]	Turned Right Tail R	Like the Turned-R we learned earlier, imagine writing lowercase <u>, but starting halfway through, at the bottom. Then, as you finish the symbol continue downward past the baseline to make the backward <j> shape of the right hook tail.
	The Sound & the Action: Turned Right Tail R [ɻ] is a voiced approximant which is articulated with the tip of the tongue curling backward. Begin to produce the [ɻ] sound with the tongue in a retroflex position (meaning the tongue’s tip is curling backward), and with the soft palate lifted to block the airstream from going out the nose. The voiced sound is then released forward through the [ɻ]-shaped vocal tract, with enouɡh space above the underside of the tongue to prevent turbulent airflow. The sound is produced in the middle of the mouth and requires the onset of voice. View an MRI of [ɻ] ^[7]
	Linguistic Term: Voiced retroflex approximant.
	Examples (from Wikipedia): Some US/Irish/West Country Accents red [ɻɛd] “red” Inuktitut (Nattilingmiutut) kiuřuq /kiuɻuq/ “she replies” Malayalam ആഴം [aːɻɐm] “depth” Portuguese (Centro-Sul) cartas [ˈkaɻtə̥̆s] “letters” Western Desert (Pitjantjatjara dialect) Uluṟu [ʊlʊɻʊ] “Uluru”

Retroflex Lateral Approximant

Right Tail L: [ɭ]

Symbol	Name	Notes
[ɭ]	Right Tail L	Make a lowercase <l>, but when you reach the baseline just keep going and hook right to make a backward <j>.
	The Sound & the Action: Right Tail L [ɭ] is a voiced retroflex lateral approximant sound which is articulated with the centre of the top of the tongue positioned on the front hard palate, leaving the sides of the tongue open so the sound can go laterally around the tip. If you inhale in this position, you should feel cold air passing one or both sides of your wet tongue. Begin to produce the [ɭ] sound with the tongue in a retroflex position (meaning the tongue’s tip is curling backward), and with the soft palate lifted to block the airstream from going out the nose. The voiced sound is then released forward through the [ɭ]-shaped vocal tract, with enough space on the sides of the tongue to prevent turbulent airflow. The sound is produced in the middle of the mouth and requires the onset of voice. View an MRI of [ɭ] ^[8]
	Linguistic Term: Voiced retroflex lateral approximant.
	Examples (from Wikipedia): Dhivehi falhoa [faɭoː] “papaya” Faroese árla [ɔɻɭa] “early” Standard French belle jambe [bɛɭ ʒɑ̃b] “beautiful leg” Korean 솔 / sol [soɭ] “pine” Eastern and central Norwegian farlig [ˈfɑːɭi] “dangerous”

MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiceless retroflex plosive. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=1&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=648 ↵
MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiced retroflex plosive. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=1&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=598 ↵
MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiced retroflex nasal. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=1&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=627 ↵
MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiced retroflex flap. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=1&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=637 ↵
MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiceless retroflex fricative. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=1&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=642 ↵
MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiced retroflex fricative. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=1&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=656 ↵
MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiced retroflex approximant. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=1&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=635 ↵
MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiced retroflex lateral approximant. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=1&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=621 ↵