Thevoiceless retroflex trill is a sound that has been reported to occur as adiaphoneme of/ʂ/ in theMaldivian language.[1] Although the tongue starts out in a sub-apical retroflex position, trilling involves the tip of the tongue and causes it to move forward to the alveolar ridge; this means that the retroflex trill gives a preceding vowel retroflex coloration the way other retroflex consonants do, but the vibration itself is not much different from analveolar trill.
Wahgi has a similar trilled allophone of its lateral flap,[𝼈̥r̥].
Itsmanner of articulation istrill, which means it is produced by directing air over an articulator so that it vibrates.
Itsplace of articulation isretroflex, which prototypically means it is articulatedsubapical (with the tip of the tongue curled up), but more generally, it means that it ispostalveolar without beingpalatalized. That is, besides the prototypical subapical articulation, the tongue can beapical (pointed) or, in some fricatives,laminal (flat).
Itsphonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords. In some languages the vocal cords are actively separated, so it is always voiceless; in others the cords are lax, so that it may take on the voicing of adjacent sounds.
It is anoral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
It is acentral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
