Tenuis retroflex velar click
k͡𝼊   k͡‼
ᵏ𝼊   ᵏ‼
𝼊  
Tenuis retroflex uvular click
q͡𝼊   q͡‼
𐞥𝼊   𐞥‼

The voiceless or more precisely tenuis retroflex click is a rare click consonant. In practical orthography, an ad hoc symbol is used for the retroflex clicks; a tenuis click with a velar rear articulation is k͡‼ or k͜‼, commonly abbreviated to k‼, ᵏ‼ or just . The implicit symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet is k͡𝼊 or k͜𝼊, abbreviated k𝼊, ᵏ𝼊 or just 𝼊.[1] Linguists who prefer the old IPA letters use the analogous Doke convention[2] of k͡ψ or k͜ψ, abbreviated , ᵏψ or ψ. For a click with a uvular rear articulation, the equivalents are q͡‼, q͜‼, q‼, 𐞥‼, q͡𝼊, q͜𝼊, q𝼊, 𐞥𝼊 and q͡ψ, q͜ψ, qψ, 𐞥ψ. Sometimes the accompanying letter comes after the click letter, e.g. 𝼊k or 𝼊ᵏ; this may be a simple orthographic choice, or it may imply a difference in the relative timing of the releases.[3]

Features

Features of the tenuis retroflex click:

Occurrence

The tenuis retroflex click is only confirmed from a single language, Central !Kung.[4]

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Central !Kung [example needed]

References

  1. ^ Kirk Miller; Bonny Sands (1 July 2020). "Unicode proposal L2/20-115R: Unicode request for additional phonetic click letters" (PDF).
  2. ^ Doke, Clement M. (1925). "An outline of the phonetics of the language of the ʗhũ: Bushman of the North-West Kalahari". Bantu Studies. 2: 129–166. doi:10.1080/02561751.1923.9676181.
  3. ^ Afrika und Übersee. D. Reimer. 2005. pp. 93–94.
  4. ^ Scott, Abigail; Miller, Amanda; Namaseb, Levi; Sands, Bonny; Shah, Sheena (June 2, 2010). "Retroflex Clicks in Two Dialects of ǃXung". University of Botswana, Department of African Languages.