| Nasal palatal velar click | |
|---|---|
| ŋ͡ǂ ŋ͡𝼋 | |
| ᵑǂ ᵑ𝼋 | |
| ǂ̃ 𝼋̃ |
| Nasal palatal uvular click | |
|---|---|
| ɴ͡ǂ ɴ͡𝼋 | |
| ᶰǂ ᶰ𝼋 |
The palatal nasal click is a click consonant found primarily among the languages of southern Africa. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet for a nasal palatal click with a velar rear articulation is ⟨ŋ͡ǂ⟩ or ⟨ŋ͜ǂ⟩, commonly abbreviated to ⟨ŋǂ⟩, ⟨ᵑǂ⟩ or ⟨ǂ̃⟩. Linguists who prefer the old IPA letters use the analogous Beach convention of ⟨ŋ͡𝼋⟩ or ⟨ŋ͜𝼋⟩, abbreviated ⟨ŋ𝼋⟩, ⟨ᵑ𝼋⟩ or ⟨𝼋̃⟩. For a click with a uvular rear articulation, the equivalents are ⟨ɴ͡ǂ, ɴ͜ǂ, ɴǂ, ᶰǂ⟩ and ⟨ɴ͡𝼋, ɴ͜𝼋, ɴ𝼋, ᶰ𝼋⟩. Sometimes the accompanying letter comes after the click letter, e.g. ⟨ǂŋ⟩ or ⟨ǂᵑ⟩; this may be a simple orthographic choice, or may imply a difference in the relative timing of the releases.
Features
Features of the palatal 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 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 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 central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
Occurrence
Palatal nasal clicks are only found in the various Khoisan languages families of southern Africa and in the neighboring Yeyi language.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Khoekhoe | ǂnauǃhuiǂgui | = | to give s.o. a bloody nose |
| Naro | ntcùú qhuri c’õa (nçùú qhuri c’õa) |
= | the Milky Way |
| Taa | ǂnûm | = | two |
| Gǀui | = | to stare |
Glottalized palatal nasal click
| Glottalized palatal nasal click | |
|---|---|
| ǂ̃ˀ | |
| ᵑǂ͡ʔ | |
| ᵑ̊ǂˀ | |
| ᵑǂˀ |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Khoekhoe | ǂamǁgû | = | to inadvertently bite a hard object |
| Naro | tc’úú-tc’ùù (ç’úú-ç’ùù) |
to paint | |
| Gǀui | = | to hide (oneself) | |
| Yeyi | sunrise |
References
- Beach, Douglas Martyn (1938). The phonetics of the Hottentot language. London: W. Heffer & Sons.
- Afrika und Übersee. D. Reimer. 2005. pp. 93–94.
- Güldemann, Tom (2002-01-01). "Using older Khoisan sources: quantifier expressions in Lower Nosop varieties of Tuu". South African Journal of African Languages. 22 (3): 187–196. doi:10.1080/02572117.2002.10587508. ISSN 0257-2117. S2CID 124368056.
