A palatal nasal click is a click consonant found primarily among the languages of southern Africa. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet for a nasal palatal click with a velar rear articulation is or , commonly abbreviated to , or . Linguists who prefer the old IPA letters use the analogous Beach convention of or , abbreviated , or . For a click with a uvular rear articulation, the equivalents are and . Sometimes the accompanying letter comes after the click letter, e.g. or ; this may be a simple orthographic choice, or may imply a difference in the relative timing of the releases.
Features Features of a palatal nasal click:
Occurrence Palatal nasal clicks are only found in the various Khoisan languages families of southern Africa and in the neighboring Yeyi language.
Language Word IPA Meaning Khoekhoe to give s.o. a bloody nose Naro () the Milky Way Taa two Gǀui to stareTumʔi = crush
Glottalized palatal nasal click
All Khoisan languages, and a few Bantu languages, have glottalized nasal clicks. These are formed by closing the glottis so that the click is pronounced in silence; however, any preceding vowel will be nasalized.
Language Word IPA Meaning Khoekhoe ǂamǁgû to inadvertently bite a hard object Naro tc’úú-tc’ùù(ç’úú-ç’ùù) to paint Gǀui to hide (oneself) Yeyi sunrise
References