A
retracted vowel is a
vowel sound in which the body or root of the tongue is pulled backward and downward into the pharynx. The most retracted cardinal vowels are , which are so far back that the
epiglottis may press against the back pharyngeal wall, and .
Raised vowel or
front vowel vowels may be partially retracted, for example by an adjacent
uvular consonant or by vowel harmony based on retracted tongue root. In both cases, , for example, may be retracted to .
Retracted vowels and constitute the traditional, but articulatorily inaccurate, category of .
