retroflex
/ˈrɛtroʊˌflɛks/
adjective
- Bent backward or curved backward.
- The retroflex shape of the plant's leaves helps it collect rainwater.
- In some yoga poses, the spine becomes retroflex.
- The bird's retroflex beak allowed it to reach deep into flowers.
- Describing a speech sound made with the tip of the tongue curled back toward the roof of the mouth.
- Learning to produce a retroflex 't' can be challenging for English speakers.
- The English 'r' is often pronounced as a retroflex sound in some dialects.
- Languages like Hindi and Mandarin have retroflex consonants.
noun
- A speech sound made with the tongue curled back, such as certain consonants in some languages.
- Many Indian languages have a series of retroflexes.
- The linguist studied the use of retroflexes in the local dialect.
- The teacher explained how to pronounce the retroflex in Sanskrit.