The bilabial ejective is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨pʼ⟩.

Features

Features of the bilabial ejective:

• Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Since the consonant is also oral, with no nasal outlet, the airflow is blocked entirely, and the consonant is a plosive.
• Its place of articulation is bilabial, which means it is articulated with both lips.
• It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
• Because the sound is not produced with airflow over the tongue, the central–lateral dichotomy does not apply.
• The airstream mechanism is ejective (glottalic egressive), which means the air is forced out by pumping the glottis upward.

Occurrence

In addition to the languages listed below, this sound is also a common phonological feature of the Ethiopian Linguistic Area, especially Ethiopian Semitic languages.

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Adyghe		пӏакӏэ/	[pʼaːt͡ʃʼa] (help·info)	'thin'
Amharic		ጴጥሮስ/p̣iéṭros	[pʼetʼros]	'Peter'
Armenian	Yerevan dialect[1]	պոչ/pochʿ	[pʼotʃʰ]	'tail'	Corresponds to tenuis [p⁼] in other Eastern dialects
Chechen		пӏелг/ṗelg	[pʼelɡ]	'finger'
Ganza[2]: 95		[pʼá̰bḭ́]		'gathering'
Georgian		პეპელა/pepela	[pʼɛpʼɛlɑ]	'butterfly'
Hadza		hûbbu	[ɦuːpʼu]	'to lift something heavy'	(mimetic)
Haida		ttappad	[tʼapʼat]	'to break'	(mimetic)
Halkomelem		p̓əq̓	[pʼəqʼ]	'white'
Kabardian		цӏапӏэ/claplè	[t͡sʼaːpʼa] (help·info)	'mean'
Nez Perce		p’íłin	[ˈpʼiɬin]	'hole'
Ossetian	Iron	пъовыр/phovyr	[ˈpʼovɪ̈r]	'cook'
Quechua		p’acha	[pʼat͡ʃa]	'clothes'
Ubykh		wıp'ts'e	[wɨpʼtsʼɜ]	'your name'	See Ubykh phonology
Yurok[3]		kaap'	[kaːpʼ]	'leaves'