Editing Voiceless retroflex fricative (section)

{{Short description|Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ʂ⟩ in IPA}}
{{Infobox IPA
|ipa symbol=ʂ
|ipa number=136
|decimal1=642
|x-sampa=s`
|kirshenbaum=s.
|braille=256
|braille2=234
|imagefile=IPA Unicode 0x0282.svg
|imagesize=150px
}}

The '''voiceless retroflex sibilant fricative''' is a type of [[consonant]]al sound used in some [[Speech communication|spoken]] [[language]]s. The symbol in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] that represents this sound is {{angbr IPA|ʂ}} which is a Latin letter [[s]] combined with a [[retroflex hook]]. Like all the [[retroflex consonant]]s, the IPA letter is formed by adding a rightward-pointing hook to the bottom of {{angbr|s}} (the letter used for the corresponding [[alveolar consonant]]). A distinction can be made between laminal, apical, and sub-apical articulations. Only one language, [[Toda language|Toda]], appears to have more than one voiceless retroflex sibilant, and it distinguishes subapical palatal from apical postalveolar retroflex sibilants; that is, both the tongue articulation and the place of contact on the roof of the mouth are different.

Some scholars also posit the '''voiceless retroflex approximant''' distinct from the fricative. The approximant may be represented in the IPA as {{angbr IPA|ɻ̊}}.