Palatal click
|
|
Template:Infobox IPA The palato-alveolar clicks are a family of click consonants found only in Africa. (They were previously called "palatal").
The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the forward articulation of these sounds is . This must be combined with a symbol for the rear articulation to represent an actual speech sound. Attested palato-alveolar clicks include .
Features
Features of palato-alveolar clicks:
- Their manner of articulation is click, which means they are produced with two articulatory closures in the oral cavity. The pocket of air trapped between the two closures is rarefied by a "sucking" action of the tongue. The release of the forward closure produces the 'click' sound. In the case of the palatal click, the release is sharp, like a plosive, rather than noisy like an affricate.
- The forward place of articulation is palato-alveolar, which means it is postalveolar and laminal: that is, it is articulated with the blade of the tongue against the roof of the mouth behind the alveolar ridge. The rear place of articulation may be either velar or uvular.
- Palato-alveolar clicks may be either oral or nasal, which means air is allowed to escape either through the mouth or the nose.
- They are central consonants, which means they are produced by allowing the airstream to flow over the middle of the tongue, rather than the sides.
- The airstream mechanism is velaric ingressive, which means it is produced by movement of air into the mouth by action of the tongue, rather than by the glottis or the lungs.
See also