Cacuminal

Quick meaning: Cacuminal is an adjective meaning Pertaining to a point, top, or crown.

Meaning

Pertaining to a point, top, or crown.

More Meanings

1. (phonology, dated) Pronounced using a concave or retroflexed tongue; occasionally palatal sounds more generally.
2. (phonology, dated) A sound pronounced using a retroflexed tongue.

Example Sentences

The cacuminal s is produced by raising the tongue-tip to a point behind the alveoli, with a concavity in its upper surface;

1942, George Leonard Trager, Studies in Linguistics, Volumes 1-7, page 52, /L/ and /N/, slightly more cacuminal than the alveolar series, are very rare, and occur only in word-final position.

1992, Anatoly Liberman, Vowel lengthening before resonant + another consonant and svarabhakti in Germanic, Irmengard Rauch, Gerald F. Carr, Robert L. Kyes (editors), On Germanic Linguistics: Issues and Methods, Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs 68, page 190, It is a trill, because the choice can be only between a cacuminal trill or a cacuminal lateral, but cacuminal l already exists in the system […] .

Word Forms

• cacuminals

Synonyms for cacuminal

Depending on context, synonyms include backward, retroflex.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include retroflex, backward, culminate, culminal, cuspal, cupolar.

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