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  #1  
Old 29-Sep-2009, 03:48
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Post Retroflex Consonants

Hi,

What do we mean by retroflex consonants, what are they?

Thanks
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Old 30-Sep-2009, 10:17
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Default Re: Retroflex Consonants

Click here, please.
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Old 30-Sep-2009, 16:44
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Default Re: Retroflex Consonants

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Originally Posted by xpert View Post
Thus english have retroflex consonants?
Are plosives retroflex??
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Old 30-Sep-2009, 17:23
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Default Re: Retroflex Consonants

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Originally Posted by anupumh View Post
Thus Does Eenglish have retroflex consonants?
No, but speakers of Indian English often make their /t/ and /d/ retroflex. As most if not all speakers of that national variety do the same thing, one can hardly call it a mistake.
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Originally Posted by anupumh View Post
Are plosives retroflex??
Wrong way round! Some plosives can be retroflex. But if you're asking 'Are all retroflex consonants plosives too' I think so; although some language I don't know of may have, say, a lateral that is modified by a curling up of the tongue - so I couldn't say for sure.

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Old 30-Sep-2009, 17:40
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Default Re: Retroflex Consonants

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Originally Posted by BobK View Post
No, but speakers of Indian English often make their /t/ and /d/ retroflex. As most if not all speakers of that national variety do the same thing, one can hardly call it a mistake.
Wrong way round! Some plosives can be retroflex. But if you're asking 'Are all retroflex consonants plosives too' I think so; although some language I don't know of may have, say, a lateral that is modified by a curling up of the tongue - so I couldn't say for sure.

b
In Hindi, as anupumh will confirm, all the following are retroflex, but only the the second and fourth are plosives.
ट ठ ..... ड ढ
T Th ..........D Dh

There are no retroflex consonants in standard English.
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Old 30-Sep-2009, 18:50
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Default Re: Retroflex Consonants

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Originally Posted by Raymott View Post
In Hindi, as anupumh will confirm, all the following are retroflex, but only the the second and fourth are plosives.
ट ठ ..... ड ढ
T Th ..........D Dh

There are no retroflex consonants in standard English.
Yes ठ and ढ are plosive and unvoiced...
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Old 01-Oct-2009, 10:32
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Default Re: Retroflex Consonants

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Originally Posted by Raymott View Post
In Hindi, as anupumh will confirm, all the following are retroflex, but only the the second and fourth are plosives.
ट ठ ..... ड ढ
T Th ..........D Dh

There are no retroflex consonants in standard English.
It was the idea of laterals that misled me - and that 'ain't nobody's fault but mine' . I didin't know the Hindi ones, but I should have thought that fricatives could be retroflex.

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Old 01-Oct-2009, 11:23
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Default Re: Retroflex Consonants

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Originally Posted by BobK View Post
It was the idea of laterals that misled me - and that 'ain't nobody's fault but mine' . I didin't know the Hindi ones, but I should have thought that fricatives could be retroflex.

b
Fricatives can be retroflex - I have no idea about Hindi, but I believe they occur in Mandarin Chinese.

I think retroflex "t" can occur phonetically in English, in certain pronunciations of the "tr" cluster. But this would of course be purely allophonic.

(Disclaimer: I am not an expert on phonetics)
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Old 01-Oct-2009, 11:27
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Default Re: Retroflex Consonants

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Fricatives can be retroflex ...
Yes, that's what I said. I should have realized that 'should have thought' was ambiguous.

b
  #10  
Old 01-Oct-2009, 11:31
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Default Re: Retroflex Consonants

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Originally Posted by BobK View Post
Yes, that's what I said. I should have realized that 'should have thought' was ambiguous.

b
Sorry, I just read your previous post out of context.
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