Nasal palatal click

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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

Features

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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

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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
(ùú qhuri c’õa)
[ᵑǂǔːǃʰūɾīŋǀˀõ̯ã] = [ᵑ𝼋ǔːʗʰūɾīŋʇˀõ̯ã] the Milky Way
Taa ǂnûm [ᵑǂûm] = [ᵑ𝼋ûm] two
Gǀui [ᵑǂâː] = [ᵑ𝼋âː] to stare

Glottalized palatal nasal click

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Glottalized
palatal nasal click
ǂ̃ˀ
ᵑǂ͡ʔ
ᵑ̊ǂˀ
ᵑǂˀ

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

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  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.