| Tenuis palatal velar click | |
|---|---|
| k͡ǂ k͡𝼋 | |
| ᵏǂ ᵏ𝼋 | |
| ǂ 𝼋 | |
| IPA Number | 179 |
| Encoding | |
| Entity (decimal) | ǂ |
| Unicode (hex) | U+01C2 |
| Braille |   |
| Tenuis palatal uvular click | |
|---|---|
| q͡ǂ q͡𝼋 | |
| 𐞥ǂ 𐞥𝼋 |
The voiceless or more precisely tenuis palatal click is a click consonant found primarily among the languages of southern Africa. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet for a tenuis palatal click with a velar rear articulation is ⟨k͡ǂ⟩ or ⟨k͜ǂ⟩, commonly abbreviated to ⟨kǂ⟩, ⟨ᵏǂ⟩ or simply ⟨ǂ⟩. Linguists who prefer the old IPA letters use the analogous Beach convention[2] of ⟨k͡𝼋⟩ or ⟨k͜𝼋⟩, abbreviated ⟨k𝼋⟩, ⟨ᵏ𝼋⟩ or just ⟨𝼋⟩. For a click with a uvular rear articulation, the equivalents are ⟨q͡ǂ, q͜ǂ, qǂ, 𐞥ǂ⟩ and ⟨q͡𝼋, q͜𝼋, q𝼋, 𐞥𝼋⟩. Sometimes the accompanying letter comes after the click letter, e.g. ⟨ǂk⟩ or ⟨ǂᵏ⟩; this may be a simple orthographic choice, or may imply a difference in the relative timing of the releases.[3]
Features[edit]
Features of the tenuis palatal click:
- The airstream mechanism is lingual ingressive (also known as velaric ingressive), which means a pocket of air trapped between two closures is rarefied by a "sucking" action of the tongue, rather than being moved by the glottis or the lungs/diaphragm. The release of the forward closure produces the "click" sound. Voiced and nasal clicks have a simultaneous pulmonic egressive airstream.
- Its place of articulation is palatal, which means it is articulated with the middle or back part of the tongue raised to the hard palate.
- Its phonation is voiceless, unaspirated, and unglottalized, which means it is produced without vibration or constriction of the vocal cords, and any following vowel starts without significant delay.
- It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
- It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
Occurrence[edit]
Tenuis palatal clicks are only found in the various Khoisan language families of southern Africa and in the neighboring Yeyi language.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ǂHaba | ǂHaba | [k͜ǂʰabá] = [ᵏ𝼋ʰabá] | 'ǂHaba' |
| Khoekhoe | ǂgā-amǃnâ | [k͜ǂààʔám̀ŋ͜ǃã̀ã̀] = [ᵏ𝼋ààʔám̀ᵑʗã̀ã̀] | 'to put in the mouth' |
| Naro | Qhomatcã (Qhomaçã) |
[k͜ǃʰomak͜ǂã] = [ᵏʗʰomaᵏ𝼋ã] | 'Qhomatca' |
| Yeyi | shiǂa | [ʃik͜ǂa] = [ʃiᵏ𝼋a] | 'scarification' |
References[edit]
- ^ Kirshenbaum assigns ⟨c!⟩ indifferently to both palatal and alveolar clicks.
- ^ Beach, Douglas Martyn (1938). The phonetics of the Hottentot language. London: W. Heffer & Sons.
- ^ Afrika und Übersee. D. Reimer. 2005. pp. 93–94.
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