Voiced retroflex click
| Voiced retroflex velar click | |
|---|---|
| ɡ͡𝼊ɡ͡‼ | |
| ᶢ𝼊ᶢ‼ | |
| 𝼊̬‼̬ |
| Voiced retroflex uvular click | |
|---|---|
| ɢ͡𝼊ɢ͡‼ | |
| 𐞒𝼊𐞒‼ |
Thevoiced retroflex clickis a rareclick consonant.In practical orthography, anad hocsymbol ⟨‼⟩ is used for theretroflex clicks;a voiced click with avelarrear articulation is ⟨ɡ͡‼⟩ or ⟨ɡ͜‼⟩, commonly abbreviated to ⟨ɡ‼⟩, ⟨ᶢ‼⟩ or ⟨‼̬⟩. The implicit symbol in theInternational Phonetic Alphabetis ⟨ɡ͡𝼊⟩ or ⟨ɡ͜𝼊⟩, abbreviated ⟨ɡ𝼊⟩, ⟨ᶢ𝼊⟩ or ⟨𝼊̬⟩.[1]Linguists who prefer theold IPA lettersuse the analogousDoke convention[2]of ⟨ɡ͡ψ⟩ or ⟨ɡ͜ψ⟩, abbreviated ⟨ɡψ⟩, ⟨ᶢψ⟩ or ⟨ψ̬⟩. For a click with auvularrear articulation, the equivalents are ⟨ɢ͡‼, ɢ͜‼, ɢ‼, 𐞒‼⟩, ⟨ɢ͡𝼊, ɢ͜𝼊, ɢ𝼊, 𐞒𝼊⟩ and ⟨ɢ͡ψ, ɢ͜ψ, ɢψ, 𐞒ψ⟩. Sometimes the accompanying letter comes after the click letter, e.g. ⟨𝼊ɡ⟩ or ⟨𝼊ᶢ⟩; this may be a simple orthographic choice, or it may imply a difference in the relative timing of the releases.[3]
Features[edit]
Features of the voiced retroflex click:
- Theairstream mechanismislingual 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 theglottisor thelungs/diaphragm.The release of the forward closure produces the "click" sound. Voiced and nasal clicks have a simultaneouspulmonic egressiveairstream.
- Itsplace of articulationisretroflex,which prototypically means it is articulatedsubapical(with the tip of the tongue curled up), but more generally, it means that it ispostalveolarwithout beingpalatalized.That is, besides the prototypical subapical articulation, the tongue can beapical(pointed) or, in some fricatives,laminal(flat).
- Itsphonationis voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
- It is anoral consonant,which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
- It is acentral consonant,which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
Occurrence[edit]
The voiced retroflex click is only confirmed from a single language,Central!Kung.[4]
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central!Kung | g‼ú | [ɡ͡‼ú]=[ɡ͜𝼊ú]=[ᶢψú] | 'water' |
Notes[edit]
- ^Kirk Miller; Bonny Sands (1 July 2020)."Unicode proposal L2/20-115R: Unicode request for additional phonetic click letters"(PDF).
- ^Doke, Clement M. (1925). "An outline of the phonetics of the language of the ʗhũ: Bushman of the North-West Kalahari".Bantu Studies.2:129–166.doi:10.1080/02561751.1923.9676181.
- ^Afrika und Übersee.D. Reimer. 2005. pp. 93–94.
- ^Scott, Abigail; Miller, Amanda; Namaseb, Levi; Sands, Bonny; Shah, Sheena (June 2, 2010). "Retroflex Clicks in Two Dialects of ǃXung".University of Botswana, Department of African Languages.
