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Nasal alveolar click

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(Redirected from Alveolar nasal click)
Nasal alveolar velar click
ŋ͡ǃ   ŋ͡ʗ
ᵑǃ   ᵑʗ
ǃ̃   ʗ̃
Nasal alveolar uvular click
ɴ͡ǃ   ɴ͡ʗ
ᶰǃ   ᶰʗ

The alveolar nasal click is a click consonant found primarily among the languages of southern Africa.[2] The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet for a nasal alveolar click with a velar rear articulation is ⟨ŋ͡ǃ⟩ or ⟨ŋ͜ǃ⟩, commonly abbreviated to ⟨ŋǃ⟩, ⟨ᵑǃ⟩ or ⟨ǃ̃⟩; a symbol abandoned by the IPA but still preferred by some linguists is ⟨ŋ͡ʗ⟩ or ⟨ŋ͜ʗ⟩, abbreviated ⟨ŋʗ⟩, ⟨ᵑʗ⟩ or ⟨ʗ̃⟩. For a click with a uvular rear articulation, the equivalents are ⟨ɴ͡ǃ, ɴ͜ǃ, ɴǃ, ᶰǃ⟩ and ⟨ɴ͡ʗ, ɴ͜ʗ, ɴʗ, ᶰʗ⟩. Sometimes the accompanying letter comes after the click letter, e.g. ⟨ǃŋ⟩ or ⟨ǃᵑ⟩; this may be a simple orthographic choice, or it may imply a difference in the relative timing of the releases.[3]

Features

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Features of the alveolar 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 alveolar, which means it is articulated with either the tip or the blade of the tongue at the alveolar ridge, termed respectively apical and laminal.
  • 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

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Alveolar nasal clicks are found primarily in the various Khoisan language families of southern Africa and in some neighboring Bantu languages such as Yeyi.[4]

Language Word IPA Meaning
ǃKung an [ᵑǃáŋ] = [ᵑʗáŋ] 'inside'
Damin n!2u [ᵑǃᵑǃu] = [ᵑʗᵑʗu] 'water'
Hadza henqee [ɦeŋᵑǃeʔe] = [ɦeŋᵑʗeʔe] 'dead leopard'
Khoekhoe xuruǃomǃnâ [xȕɾúᵑǃˀóm̀ᵑǃã̀ã̀] = [xȕɾúᵑʗˀóm̀ᵑʗã̀ã̀] 'to yank at something'
Zulu inqola [iᵑǃɔ́ːla] = [iᵑʗɔ́ːla] 'cart'

Glottalized alveolar nasal click

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Glottalized
alveolar nasal click
ǃ̃ˀ
ᵑǃ͡ʔ
ᵑ̊ǃˀ
ʗ̃͡ʔ
ᵑʗˀ

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 teqqe [teᵑǃˀe] = [teᵑʗˀe] 'to carry'
Khoekhoe xuruǃomǃnâ [xȕɾúᵑǃˀóm̀ᵑǃã̀ã̀] = [xȕɾúᵑʗˀóm̀ᵑʗã̀ã̀] 'to yank at something'
Xhosa ukuqhankqalaza [ukʼuᵏǃʰaᵑǃˀalaza] = [ukʼuᵏʗʰaᵑʗˀalaza] 'to struggle'

References

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  1. ^ Kirshenbaum assigns ⟨n^!⟩ indifferently to both alveolar and palatal clicks.
  2. ^ Knight, Rachael-Anne (2012-01-26). Phonetics: A Coursebook. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-50419-5.
  3. ^ Afrika und Übersee. D. Reimer. 2005. pp. 93–94.
  4. ^ Sands, Bonny (2020-09-25). Click Consonants. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-42435-7.