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]
| Nasal alveolar velar click | |
|---|---|
| ŋ͡ǃ ŋ͡ʗ | |
| ᵑǃ ᵑʗ | |
| ǃ̃ ʗ̃ |
| Nasal alveolar uvular click | |
|---|---|
| ɴ͡ǃ ɴ͡ʗ | |
| ᶰǃ ᶰʗ |
Features
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
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 | nǃan | [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
| 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' |