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Voiceless velar implosive
ɠ̊
ƙ
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Avoiceless velar implosive is a very rareconsonantal sound. The symbol for this sound in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet is ⟨ɠ̊⟩ or theoretically ⟨kʼ↓⟩. A dedicated IPA letter, ⟨ƙ⟩, was retired in 1993.

Features of a voiceless velar implosive:

• 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.
• Itsplace of articulation isvelar, which means it is articulated with the back of thetongue (the dorsum) at thesoft palate.
• 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.

A phonemic/ɠ̊/ has not been confirmed for any language. It has been claimed forLendu, but it is more likely to becreaky-voiced/ɠ̰/, as inHausa. Some English speakers use a voiceless velar implosive[ɠ̊] to imitate the "glug-glug" sound of liquid being poured from a bottle, though others use a voiced implosive [ɠ] or an uvular one [ʛ].^{[1][full citation needed]}

InUspantek, and perhaps other Mayan languages of Guatemala,[ɠ̊] is a rare allophone of/kˀ/. Of the consonants with glottalic airstream, the labial and uvular vary as[ɓ̥] ~[pʼ] and[ʛ̥] ~[qʼ], depending on the position in the word. In contrast, the velar is nearly always[kʼ], but speakers have been recorded using[ɠ̊].^[2]

• Voiced velar implosive

• Pullum, Geoffrey K.; Ladusaw, William A. (2013). "Hooktop K".Phonetic Symbol Guide. University of Chicago Press.ISBN 9780226924885.

• List of languages with[ɠ̥] onPHOIBLE

• Velar consonants
• Implosives
• Voiceless oral consonants

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