Voiced bilabial velar click
ɡ͡ʘ
ᶢʘ
ʘ̬
Voiced bilabial uvular click
ɢ͡ʘ
𐞒ʘ

The voiced bilabial click is a click consonant found in some of the languages of southern Africa. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet for a voiced bilabial click with a velar rear articulation is ɡ͡ʘ or ɡ͜ʘ, commonly abbreviated to ɡʘ, ᶢʘ or ʘ̬. For a click with a uvular rear articulation, the equivalents are ɢ͡ʘ, ɢ͜ʘ, ɢʘ, 𐞒ʘ. Sometimes the accompanying letter comes after the click letter, e.g. ʘɡ or ʘᶢ; this may be a simple orthographic choice, or it may imply a difference in the relative timing of the releases.[1]

Features

Features of the voiced bilabial click:

Occurrence

Voiced bilabial clicks only occur in the Tuu and Kx'a families of southern Africa.[2] These sounds are extremely rare and many non-native speakers find it difficult to pronounce. Thus, these sounds are sometimes transliterated as a "g" and a "G" and are pronounced as Velar and Uvular Plosives.

References

  1. ^ Afrika und Übersee. D. Reimer. 2005. pp. 93–94.
  2. ^ Exter, Mats (2008-11-19). Properties of the Anterior and Posterior Click Closures in N|uu (text.thesis.doctoral thesis) (in German). Universität zu Köln.