Avoiceless uvular implosive is a rareconsonantal sound, used in somespokenlanguages. The symbol in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ʛ̥⟩ or theoretically ⟨qʼ↓⟩. A dedicated IPA letter, ⟨ʠ⟩, was retired in 1993.
Itsmanner of articulation isocclusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Since the consonant is also oral, with nonasal outlet, the airflow is blocked entirely, and the consonant is aplosive.
Itsphonation is un-voiced, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords.
It is anoral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
It is acentral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
Theairstream mechanism isimplosive (glottalic ingressive), which means it is produced by pulling air in by pumping theglottis downward. As it is voiceless, the glottis is completely closed, and there is no pulmonic airstream at all.
