Palatal click
Encyclopedia
The palato-alveolar clicks are a family of click consonant
s found only in Africa
. They are commonly called palatal clicks.
The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet
that represents the place of articulation
of these sounds is ǂ, a pipe. Either letter may be combined with a second letter to indicate the manner of articulation
, though this is commonly omitted for tenuis clicks, and increasingly a diacritic is used instead. Common palatal clicks are:
The last is what is heard in the sound sample at right, as non-native speakers tend to glottalize clicks to avoid nasalizing them.
does not have a palatal click (or any click consonant, for that matter) as a phoneme, but a plain alveolar click does occur in mimesis
, as a sound children use to imitate a horse trotting.
Palatal clicks only occur in the southern African Khoisan languages
(Khoe
, Kx'a, and Tuu
families), where they are extremely common, and in single the Bantu language Yeyi
.
Click consonant
Clicks are speech sounds found as consonants in many languages of southern Africa, and in three languages of East Africa. Examples of these sounds familiar to English speakers are the tsk! tsk! or tut-tut used to express disapproval or pity, the tchick! used to spur on a horse, and the...
s found only in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. They are commonly called palatal clicks.
The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...
that represents the place of articulation
Place of articulation
In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation of a consonant is the point of contact where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract between an articulatory gesture, an active articulator , and a passive location...
of these sounds is ǂ, a pipe. Either letter may be combined with a second letter to indicate the manner of articulation
Manner of articulation
In linguistics, manner of articulation describes how the tongue, lips, jaw, and other speech organs are involved in making a sound. Often the concept is only used for the production of consonants, even though the movement of the articulars will also greatly alter the resonant properties of the...
, though this is commonly omitted for tenuis clicks, and increasingly a diacritic is used instead. Common palatal clicks are:
| IPA I | IPA II | Description |
|---|---|---|
| [ǂ] | tenuis Tenuis consonant In linguistics, a tenuis consonant is a stop or affricate which is unvoiced, unaspirated, and unglottalized. That is, it has a "plain" phonation like , with a voice onset time close to zero, as in Spanish p, t, ch, k, or as in English p, t, k after s .In transcription, tenuis consonants are not... palatal click |
|
| [ǂʰ] | aspirated palatal click | |
| [ǂ̬] | [ᶢǂ] | voiced palatal click |
| [ǂ̃] | [ᵑǂ] | nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... palatal click |
| [ǂ̥̃ʰ] | [ᵑ̊ǂʰ] | aspirated nasal palatal click |
| [ǂˀ] or [ǂ̥̃ˀ] | [ǂˀ] or [ᵑ̊ǂˀ]) | glottalized Glottalization Glottalization is the complete or partial closure of the glottis during the articulation of another sound. Glottalization of vowels and other sonorants is most often realized as creaky voice... nasal palatal click |
The last is what is heard in the sound sample at right, as non-native speakers tend to glottalize clicks to avoid nasalizing them.
Features
Features of palato-alveolar clicks:- The forward place of articulationPlace of articulationIn articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation of a consonant is the point of contact where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract between an articulatory gesture, an active articulator , and a passive location...
is palato-alveolar, which means it is postalveolarPostalveolar consonantPostalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate...
and laminalLaminal consonantA laminal consonant is a phone produced by obstructing the air passage with the blade of the tongue, which is the flat top front surface just behind the tip of the tongue on the top. This contrasts with apical consonants, which are produced by creating an obstruction with the tongue apex only...
: that is, it is articulated with the blade of the tongue against the roof of the mouth behind the alveolar ridgeAlveolar ridgeAn alveolar ridge is one of the two jaw ridges either on the roof of the mouth between the upper teeth and the hard palate or on the bottom of the mouth behind the lower teeth. The alveolar ridges contain the sockets of the teeth....
. The release is a sharp, plosive-like sound.
Occurrence
EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
does not have a palatal click (or any click consonant, for that matter) as a phoneme, but a plain alveolar click does occur in mimesis
Mimesis
Mimesis , from μιμεῖσθαι , "to imitate," from μῖμος , "imitator, actor") is a critical and philosophical term that carries a wide range of meanings, which include imitation, representation, mimicry, imitatio, receptivity, nonsensuous similarity, the act of resembling, the act of expression, and the...
, as a sound children use to imitate a horse trotting.
Palatal clicks only occur in the southern African Khoisan languages
Khoisan languages
The Khoisan languages are the click languages of Africa which do not belong to other language families. They include languages indigenous to southern and eastern Africa, though some, such as the Khoi languages, appear to have moved to their current locations not long before the Bantu expansion...
(Khoe
Khoe languages
The Khoe languages are the largest of the non-Bantu language families indigenous to southern Africa. They are often considered to be a branch of a suspected Khoisan language family, and are known as Central Khoisan in that scenario. The nearest relative of the Khoe family is the extinct and poorly...
, Kx'a, and Tuu
Tuu languages
The Tuu or Taa–ǃKwi languages are a language family consisting of two language clusters spoken in Botswana and South Africa. The relationship between the two clusters is not doubted, but is not close. The name Tuu comes from a word for person common to both branches of the family...
families), where they are extremely common, and in single the Bantu language Yeyi
Yeyi language
Yeyi is an endangered Bantu language spoken by many of the approximately 50,000 Yeyi people along the Okavango River in Namibia and Botswana. Yeyi, influenced by Juu languages, is one of several Bantu languages along the Okavango with clicks...
.
| Language | Word | IPA International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic... | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taa | ǂnûm | ǂ̃ûm | two |
| ǂHaba ǂHaba language ǂHaba is a variety of the Khoe languages spoken in Botswana. Traditionally included in the Gǁana–Gǀwi dialect cluster, it may actually be closer to Naro. It is endangered, with most ǂHaba speaking Naro.-Phonology:... |
ǂHaba | ǂʰabá | (endonym) |
| Yeyi Yeyi language Yeyi is an endangered Bantu language spoken by many of the approximately 50,000 Yeyi people along the Okavango River in Namibia and Botswana. Yeyi, influenced by Juu languages, is one of several Bantu languages along the Okavango with clicks... |
See also
- Alveolar clicks
- Bilabial clicks
- Dental clicks
- Lateral clicks
- Retroflex clicks
- List of phonetics topics