Nasal palatal click

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[1] 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.[2]

Nasal palatal velar click
ŋ͡ǂ   ŋ͡𝼋
ᵑǂ   ᵑ𝼋
ǂ̃   𝼋̃
Nasal palatal uvular click
ɴ͡ǂ   ɴ͡𝼋
ᶰǂ   ᶰ𝼋
Main articles: Palatal click and nasal click

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.[3]

Language Word IPA Meaning
Khoekhoe ǂnauǃhuiǂgui [ᵑǂə̀űᵑ̊ǃʰȕíᵏǂȕí] = [ᵑ𝼋ə̀űᵑ̊ǃʰȕíᵏ𝼋ȕí] to give s.o. a bloody nose
Naro ntcùú qhuri c’õa
(nçùú qhuri c’õa)		 [ᵑǂǔːǃʰūɾīŋǀˀõ̯ã] = [ᵑ𝼋ǔːʗʰūɾīŋʇˀõ̯ã] the Milky Way
Taa ǂnûm [ᵑǂûm] = [ᵑ𝼋ûm] two
Gǀui [ᵑǂâː] = [ᵑ𝼋âː] to stare

Glottalized palatal nasal click
Glottalized
palatal nasal click
ǂ̃ˀ
ᵑǂ͡ʔ
ᵑ̊ǂˀ
ᵑǂˀ
Main article: Glottalized click

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 [ᵑǂ͡ʔàm̀ᵏǁṹṹ] = [ᵑ𝼋ˀàm̀ᵏʖṹṹ] to inadvertently bite a hard object
Naro tc’úú-tc’ùù
(ç’úú-ç’ùù)		 [ᵑǂˀúːŋǂˀùː] to paint
Gǀui [ᵑǂ͡ʔáː] = [ᵑ𝼋ˀáː] to hide (oneself)
Yeyi [makʰweᵑǂˀumu] sunrise

References
  1. Beach, Douglas Martyn (1938). The phonetics of the Hottentot language. London: W. Heffer & Sons.
  2. Afrika und Übersee. D. Reimer. 2005. pp. 93–94.
  3. 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.
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