A voiceless retroflex implosive is an extremely rare consonantal sound, used in very few spoken languages. There is no official symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound, but ⟨ᶑ̊⟩ or ⟨ʈʼ↓⟩ may be used, or the old convention ⟨𝼉⟩ (ƭ̢).
Voiceless retroflex implosive | |||
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ᶑ̥ | |||
𝼉 | |||
ʈʼ↓ | |||
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Features of the voiceless retroflex implosive:
A rare and evidently unstable sound, [ᶑ̥] has been described in Oromo of Ethiopia,[1] and Ngiti of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[2]
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
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Oromo[1] | haadha | [hɑːᶑ̥ɐ] | 'mother' | [ᶑ̥] is mostly likely voiced [ᶑ], and may weaken into /ɽ/ in intervocalic positions.[3] See Oromo language. | |
Ngiti[4] | [example needed] | Contrasts /ɓ ᶑ ʄ ɓ̥ ᶑ̥ ʄ̥/. |