Understanding Opisthoglossate Languages and Their Distinctive Sounds

Opisthoglossate refers to a type of tongue movement that is characterized by the tongue being positioned towards the back of the mouth, and the sides of the tongue being raised towards the palate. This type of tongue movement is often seen in languages that are spoken in regions where there is a lot of sibilant sounds, such as in African and Pacific languages.

In an opisthoglossate language, the tongue is positioned so that the blade of the tongue is facing backwards, towards the pharynx, and the sides of the tongue are raised towards the palate. This causes the air to flow over the tongue in a way that creates a hissing or sibilant sound.

Opisthoglossate languages are often characterized by a distinctive set of consonantal sounds, such as the "s" and "sh" sounds, which are produced by the tongue being positioned in this way. These sounds are not found in languages that are spoken in regions where there is less sibilant sounds.

Some examples of opisthoglossate languages include:

* African languages such as Yoruba and Igbo
* Pacific languages such as Hawaiian and Maori
* Native American languages such as Navajo and Cherokee

It's worth noting that not all languages that have sibilant sounds are opisthoglossate, and not all opisthoglossate languages have sibilant sounds. However, the two are often closely associated.