Retroflex click

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The retroflex clicks are a family of click consonants known only from the Central ǃKung language or dialect of Namibia.[1] They are sub-apical retroflex and should not be confused with the more widespread postalveolar clicks, which are sometimes mistakenly called "retroflex" (for example in Unicode) due to their concave tongue shape.

Retroflex click
(plain velar)
k͡𝼊 k͡‼
ᵏ𝼊 ᵏ‼
𝼊
Encoding
Entity (decimal)𝼊
Unicode (hex)U+1DF0A
Voiced retroflex click
ɡ͡𝼊 ɡ͡‼
ᶢ𝼊 ᶢ‼
𝼊̬ ‼̬
Retroflex nasal click
ŋ͡𝼊 ŋ͡‼
ᵑ𝼊 ᵑ‼
𝼊̃ ‼̃

The 'implicit' symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the forward articulation of these sounds is 𝼊 (the symbol ǃ used for the alveolar clicks, with a hook diacritic).[2][3] However, usage is rare. In the literature, retroflex clicks are typically written with the ad hoc digraph , the convention since Doke identified them as retroflex in 1926. (Doke's proposed symbol, ψ,[4] did not catch on, nor did Vedder's and Anders' ⟨⦀⟩.[5] For a while Amanda Miller, who noted a lateral fricated release (as had Vedder), transcribed them ǃ𐞷, with a superscript form of the symbol ǁ used for the lateral clicks. Another de facto possible transcription is ǃ𐞝, with a superscript form of the symbol used for the voiceless retroflex lateral fricative. [6])

Retroflex clicks are extraordinarily rare. True retroflex clicks occur in at least some dialects of Central ǃKung. The Damin ritual jargon of Australia may have had a voiced nasal retroflex click, transcribed by Hale & Nash as ⟨rn!⟩, though whether it was phonemically distinct is not known. However, Damin clicks presumably reflected the consonant articulations of Lardil, in which the "retroflex" consonants are retracted apical alveolar rather than true retroflex, so it is likely that the Damin distinction could be described as post-alveolar apical [ᵑǃ̠] (⟨rn!⟩) vs a more fronted apical [ᵑǃ̪] (⟨n!⟩).

Basic retroflex clicks are:

Trans. I Trans. II Trans. III Description
(velar)
k͜𝼊 ᵏ𝼊 𝼊 tenuis retroflex click
k͜𝼊ʰ ᵏ𝼊ʰ 𝼊ʰ aspirated retroflex click
ɡ͜𝼊 ᶢ𝼊 𝼊̬ voiced retroflex click
ŋ͜𝼊 ᵑ𝼊 𝼊̃ retroflex nasal click
ŋ͜𝼊ʰʰ ᵑ𝼊ʰʰ 𝼊̃ʰʰ aspirated retroflex nasal click
ŋ͜𝼊ˀ ᵑ𝼊ˀ 𝼊̃ˀ glottalized retroflex nasal click
(uvular)
q͜𝼊 𐞥𝼊 tenuis retroflex click
q͜𝼊ʰ 𐞥𝼊ʰ aspirated retroflex click
ɢ͜𝼊 𐞒𝼊 voiced retroflex click
ɴ͜𝼊 ᶰ𝼊 retroflex nasal click
ɴ͜𝼊ʰʰ ᶰ𝼊ʰʰ aspirated retroflex nasal click
ɴ͜𝼊ˀ ᶰ𝼊ˀ glottalized retroflex nasal click

Features edit

Features of postalveolar clicks:

  • The basic articulation may be voiced, nasal, aspirated, glottalized, etc.
  • The place of articulation is post-alveolar, and the tongue shape may be subapical, which means it is articulated with the tip of the tongue curled up. The center of the tongue moves downward to create suction.
  • Clicks may be oral or nasal, which means that the airflow is either restricted to the mouth, or passes through the nose as well.
  • It is uncertain whether subapical postalveolar clicks have central or lateral airflow. However, central airflow is generally assumed.
  • 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.

Occurrence edit

As with other click articulations, retroflex clicks may be produced with various manners. An example is the voiced retroflex click in the Grootfontein ǃKung (Central Juu) word for 'water', [ᶢ𝼊𐞷ú] (g‼ú).

Damin is the only other language known to have had such a sound, though only the nasal click occurred.

A retroflex series claimed for Ekoka ǃKung turns out to be domed palatal clicks.

See also edit

Notes and references edit

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Kirk Miller & Michael Ashby, L2/20-253R Unicode request for IPA modifier letters (b), non-pulmonic.
  3. ^ The Unicode character 𝼊 was only adopted 2021. It may be substituted in some fonts with a combining diacritic, such as ǃ̢ or ǃ̨.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Anders, H.D. (1935). "A note on a South Eastern Bushman dialect". Zeitschrift für Eingeborenen-Sprachen. 25: 81–89.
    —— "The clicks". South African Journal of Science. 33: 926–939. 1937.
  6. ^ Miller, Amanda (2009). Contrastive Coronal Click Types in !Xung.

Further reading edit

  • 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.