Voiced lateral click
| Voiced lateral velar click | |
|---|---|
| ɡǁ ɡʖ | |
| ᶢǁ ᶢʖ | |
| ǁ̬ ʖ̬ | |
| ǁ᪶ |
| Voiced lateral uvular click | |
|---|---|
| ɢǁ ɢʖ | |
| 𐞒ǁ 𐞒ʖ |
A voiced lateral click is a click consonant found primarily among the languages of southern Africa.[1] The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet for a voiced lateral click with a velar rear articulation is ⟨ɡ͡ǁ⟩ or ⟨ɡ͜ǁ⟩, commonly abbreviated to ⟨ɡǁ⟩, ⟨ᶢǁ⟩ or ⟨ǁ̬⟩; a symbol abandoned by the IPA but still preferred by some linguists is ⟨ɡ͡ʖ⟩ or ⟨ɡ͜ʖ⟩, abbreviated ⟨ɡʖ⟩, ⟨ᶢʖ⟩ or ⟨ʖ̬⟩. For a click with a uvular rear articulation, the equivalents are ⟨ɢ͡ǁ, ɢ͜ǁ, ɢǁ, 𐞒ǁ⟩ and ⟨ɢ͡ʖ, ɢ͜ʖ, ɢʖ, 𐞒ʖ⟩. Sometimes the accompanying letter comes after the click letter, e.g. ⟨ǁɡ⟩ or ⟨ǁᶢ⟩; this may be a simple orthographic choice, or it may imply a difference in the relative timing of the releases.[2]
In languages which use the Bantu letters for clicks, this is most commonly written ⟨gx⟩, but it is written ⟨dx⟩ in those languages that use ⟨g⟩ for the uvular fricative.
Features
[edit]Features of a voiced lateral 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 an oral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
- 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]Voiced lateral clicks are found primarily in the various Khoisan language families of southern Africa and in some neighboring Bantu languages.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naro | dxàí cgàa | [ɡ͜ǁàí k͜ǀχàː] = [ᶢʖàí ᵏʇχàː] | 'cheek muscle' |
| Sandawe | gxõgxe | [ɡ͜ǁṍːɡ͜ǁê] = [ᶢʖṍːᶢʖê] | 'male greater kudu' |
| Yeyi | mugǁawa | [muɡ͜ǁawa] = [muᶢʖawa] | 'arrow' |
References
[edit]- ^ Ladefoged, Peter; Traill, Anthony (1994-01-01). "Clicks and their accompaniments". Journal of Phonetics. 22 (1): 33–64. doi:10.1016/S0095-4470(19)30266-9. ISSN 0095-4470.
- ^ Afrika und Übersee. D. Reimer. 2005. pp. 93–94.
