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| Nasal bilabial click | |
|---|---|
| ʘ̃ ɋ̃ |
| Nasal bilabial velar click | |
|---|---|
| ŋʘ ŋɋ | |
| ᵑʘ ᵑɋ |
| Nasal bilabial uvular click | |
|---|---|
| ɴʘ ɴɋ | |
| ᶰʘ ᶰɋ |
Abilabial nasal click is aclick consonant found in some of the languages of southern Africa. The symbol in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet for a nasal bilabial click with avelar rear articulation is ⟨ŋ͡ʘ⟩ or ⟨ŋ͜ʘ⟩, commonly abbreviated to ⟨ŋʘ⟩, ⟨ᵑʘ⟩ or ⟨ʘ̃⟩. For a click with auvular rear articulation, the equivalents are ⟨ɴ͡ʘ,ɴ͜ʘ,ɴʘ,ᶰʘ⟩.Sometimes the accompanying letter comes after the click letter, e.g. ⟨ʘŋ⟩ or ⟨ʘᵑ⟩; this may be a simple orthographic choice, or it may imply a difference in the relative timing of the releases.[1]
Features of a bilabial nasal click:
Bilabial nasal clicks only occur in theTuu andKxʼa families of southern Africa, in the Australian ritual languageDamin, and for /mw/ in some of the languages neighboring Shona, such as at least for some speakers ofNdau andTonga.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Damin | m!ii | [ʘ̃iː] | 'vegetable' |
| Tonga | kumwa | [kʼuᵑʘwa] | 'to drink' |
| Ndau | mwana | [ᵑʘwana] | 'child' |
| Nǀuu | mʘôa | [ᵑʘõɑ̃]ⓘ | 'cat' |
| Glottalized bilabial nasal click | |
|---|---|
| ʘ̃ˀ | |
| ʘ̃ʔ | |
| ᵑʘˀ | |
| ᵑ̊ʘˀ |
The Tuu and Kxʼa languages also 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nǀuu | ʘʼuiʼi | [ᵑ̊ʘˀuiʔi] | 'to be sick' |