| Nasal lateral velar click | |
|---|---|
| ŋ͡ǁ | |
| ǁ̃ | |
| ᵑǁ | |
| ʖ̃ | |
| ᵑʖ |
| Nasal lateral uvular click | |
|---|---|
| ɴ͡ǁ | |
| ᶰʖ | |
| (etc) |
The lateral nasal click is a click consonant found primarily among the languages of southern Africa. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ǁ̃⟩ or ⟨ᵑǁ⟩; a symbol abandoned by the IPA but still preferred by some linguists is ⟨ʖ̃⟩ or ⟨ᵑʖ⟩.
Features[edit]
Features of the lateral nasal 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 phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
- It is a nasal consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the nose, either exclusively (nasal stops) or in addition to through the mouth.
- It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream over the sides of the tongue, rather than down the middle.
Occurrence[edit]
Lateral nasal clicks are found primarily in the various Khoisan language families of southern Africa and in some neighboring Bantu languages.[1][2]
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ǃKung | nǁan | [ᵑǁàŋ] = [ʖ̃àŋ] | 'marama bean' |
| !Xóõ | ǁnáã | [ᵑǁɑ́ɑ̃] = [ʖ̃ɑ́ɑ̃] | 'grewia berry' |
| Hadza | konxa | [koᵑǁa] = [koʖ̃a] | 'to be a pair' |
| Zulu | inxeba | [iᵑǁɛ́ːɓa] = [iʖ̃ɛ́ːɓa] | 'wound' |
Glottalized lateral nasal click[edit]
| Glottalized lateral nasal click | |
|---|---|
| ǁ̃ˀ | |
| ᵑǁ͡ʔ ᵑ̊ǁˀ | |
| ʖ̃͜ʔ | |
| ᵑʖˀ |
All Khoisan languages, and a few Bantu languages, have glottalized nasal clicks. These are formed by closing the glottis so that the click is pronounced in silence; however, any preceding vowel will be nasalized.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hadza | slaxxa | [ɬaᵑǁˀa] = [ɬaʖ̃ˀa] | 'a split' |
| Khoekhoe | tsoatsoaǁaposa | [tsȍàtsòȁᵑǁˀàpòsa̋] = [tsȍàtsòȁʖ̃ˀàpòsa̋] | 'principled' |
| Xhosa | inkxumo | [iᵑǁˀumo] = [iʖ̃ˀumo] | 'a support' |
References[edit]
- ^ Bradfield, Julian (May 2014). "Clicks, concurrency and Khoisan*". Phonology. 31 (1): 1–49. doi:10.1017/S0952675714000025. ISSN 0952-6757.
- ^ Miller, Amanda L.; Brugman, Johanna; Sands, Bonny; Namaseb, Levi; Exter, Mats; Collins, Chris (August 2009). "Differences in airstream and posterior place of articulation among Nǀuu clicks". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 39 (2): 129–161. doi:10.1017/S0025100309003867. ISSN 1475-3502.
