Retracted (phonetics)
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In phonetics, a retracted or backed sound is one that is pronounced further to the back of the vocal tract than some reference point. The diacritic for this in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the under-bar, [ ̠]. Both consonants and vowels may be marked as retracted.
In English, the plosive in the affricate /tʃ/, as in the word church, is further back than an alveolar /t/, due to assimilation with the postalveolar fricative /ʃ/. In narrow transcription, /tʃ/ may be transcribed as [t̠ʃʰ].
Languages may have phonemes which are further back than the nearest IPA symbol. For example, Polish sz is a postalveolar sibilant. While this is often transcribed as [ʃ], it is not domed (partially palatalized) the way a true [ʃ] is. A more accurate transcription is [s̠]. Similarly, the velars in Kwakiutl are actually postvelar; that is, pronounced further back than a prototypical velar, between a velar [k] and a uvular [q]. It is transcribed as [k̠].
The IPA symbol [a] stands for a front vowel. However, in most languages where it is used, /a/ actually stands for a central vowel. This may also be indicated with the under-bar, if precision is desired: [a̠].
Either the prefix post- may be used to indicated retraction, as above, or phrases like "retracted i" may be used.
