Retroflexes (continued)

[Lars Martin Fosse]

V. Rao wrote:

>But there is no such mystical connection. By now, most Indologists
>know that some Swedish dialects have retroflex stops. What may not be so
>well known is the fact that retroflexes are also found in some Sicilian
>dialects and in some American Indian languages. The later also
>distinguish dental and retroflex sounds at the phonemic level.
>(`Phonetics', B Malmberg, Dover 1963, pp.41--42.)
>

They are also found in East Norwegian, where they are the result of the
consonant groups rt and rn (in other words .t and .n). I suspect that the
Swedish retroflexes have a similar background. 

Lars Martin Fosse