| Nasal alveolar velar click | |
|---|---|
| ŋǃ ŋʗ | |
| ᵑǃ ᵑʗ | |
| ǃ̃ ʗ̃ | |
| Audio sample | |
| Nasal alveolar uvular click | |
|---|---|
| ɴǃ ɴʗ | |
| ᶰǃ ᶰʗ |
Analveolar nasal click is aclick consonant found primarily among the languages of southern Africa.[1] The symbol in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet for a nasal alveolar click with avelar 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 auvular 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.[2]
Features of an alveolar nasal click:
Alveolar nasal clicks are found primarily in the variousKhoisan language families of southern Africa and in some neighboringBantu languages such asYeyi.[3] They also appear in the Australian ritual languageDamin.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ǃKung | nǃan | [ᵑǃáŋ] =[ᵑʗáŋ] | 'inside' |
| Damin | n!aa | [ᵑǃaː] =[ᵑʗaː] | 'I/me' |
| Hadza | henqee | [ɦeŋᵑǃeʔe] =[ɦeŋᵑʗeʔe] | 'dead leopard' |
| Khoekhoe | xuruǃomǃnâ | [xȕɾúᵑǃˀóm̀ᵑǃã̀ã̀] =[xȕɾúᵑʗˀóm̀ᵑʗã̀ã̀] | 'to yank at something' |
| Zulu | inqola | [iᵑǃɔ́ːla] =[iᵑʗɔ́ːla] | 'cart' |
| Glottalized alveolar nasal click | |
|---|---|
| ǃ̃ˀ | |
| ᵑǃʔ ᵑ̊ǃˀ | |
| ʗ̃ʔ | |
| ᵑʗˀ |
AllKhoisan languages, and a few Bantu languages, have glottalized nasal clicks. These are formed by closing theglottis 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' |