View source for Palatal click

{{Short description|Consonantal sound}}

{{redirect-distinguish|ǂ|ⵐ|ⱡ|‡|≠}} 
{{distinguish|alveolar clicks}} 
{{Infobox IPA
|above={{nowrap|Tenuis palatal click}}<br /><small>(velar)</small>
|ipa symbol=kǂ &nbsp; k𝼋 
|ipa symbol2=ᵏǂ &nbsp; ᵏ𝼋
|ipa symbol3=ǂ &nbsp; 𝼋
|ipa symbol4=
|ipa number=179|decimal=450
|imagefile=IPA Unicode 0x01C2.svg
|imagesize=150px
|sound=Palatoalveolar click.ogg
|xsampa==\
|braille=and |braille2=wh
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above=Voiced palatal click<br /><small>(velar)</small>
|ipa symbol=ɡǂ &nbsp; ɡ𝼋
|ipa symbol2=ᶢǂ &nbsp; ᶢ𝼋
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above=Nasal palatal click<br /><small>(velar)</small>
|ipa symbol=ŋǂ &nbsp; ŋ𝼋
|ipa symbol2=ᵑǂ &nbsp; ᵑ𝼋
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above={{nowrap|Tenuis palatal click}}<br /><small>(uvular)</small>
|ipa symbol=qǂ &nbsp; q𝼋
|ipa symbol2=𐞥ǂ &nbsp; 𐞥𝼋
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above=Voiced palatal click<br /><small>(uvular)</small>
|ipa symbol=ɢǂ &nbsp; ɢ𝼋
|ipa symbol2=𐞒ǂ &nbsp; 𐞒𝼋
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above=Nasal palatal click<br /><small>(uvular)</small>
|ipa symbol=ɴǂ &nbsp; ɴ𝼋
|ipa symbol2=ᶰǂ &nbsp; ᶰ𝼋
}}
The '''palatal''' or '''palato-alveolar clicks''' are a family of [[click consonant]]s found, as components of words, only in southern Africa. The tongue is nearly flat, and is pulled back rather than down as in the [[postalveolar click]]s, making a sharper sound than those consonants. ('Sharper' meaning that the energy is concentrated at higher frequencies.) The tongue makes an extremely broad contact across the roof of the mouth, making correlation with the places of articulation of non-clicks difficult, but Ladefoged & Traill (1984:18) find that the primary place of articulation is the palate, and say that "there is no doubt that {{IPA|[ǂ]}} should be described as a palatal sound".

The symbol in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] that represents the [[place of articulation]] of these sounds is {{angbr IPA|ǂ}}, a double-barred [[vertical bar]]. An older variant, the double-barred [[esh (letter)|esh]], {{angbr IPA|𝼋}} (approximately ⨎), is sometimes seen. This base letter is combined with a second element to indicate the [[manner of articulation]], though that is commonly omitted for [[Tenuis consonant|tenuis]] clicks.

Doke noted a palatal click with a slapped release, {{IPA|[ᵑǂ¡]}}.<ref>Clement Doke (1925) An outline of the phonetics of the language of the ʗhũ̬꞉ Bushman of the North-West Kalahari. ''Bantu Studies'' 2: 129–166.</ref>

== Palatal click consonants and their transcription ==

In official IPA transcription, the click letter is combined with a {{angbr IPA|k ɡ ŋ q ɢ ɴ}} via a tie bar, though {{angbr IPA|k}} is frequently omitted. Many authors instead use a superscript {{angbr IPA|k ɡ ŋ q ɢ ɴ}} without the tie bar, again often neglecting the {{angbr IPA|k}}. Either letter, whether baseline or superscript, is usually placed before the click letter, but may come after when the release of the velar or uvular occlusion is audible. A third convention is the click letter with diacritics for voicelessness, voicing and nasalization; this does not distinguish velar from uvular palatal clicks. Common palatal clicks in these three transcriptions are:

{| class="wikitable"
! Trans. I !! Trans. II !! Trans. III !! Description 
|-
! colspan=4| (velar)
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|k͜ǂ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᵏǂ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ǂ}} 
| ''[[tenuis palatal click]]''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|k͜ǂʰ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᵏǂʰ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ǂʰ}} 
| ''[[aspirated consonant|aspirated]] palatal click''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ɡ͜ǂ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᶢǂ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ǂ̬}} 
| ''[[voiced palatal click]]''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ŋ͜ǂ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᵑǂ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ǂ̬̃}} 
| ''[[palatal nasal click]]''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ŋ͜ǂ̥ʰʰ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᵑǂ̥ʰʰ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ǂ̥̃ʰʰ}} 
| ''[[aspirated palatal nasal click]]''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ŋ͜ǂˀ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᵑǂˀ}}
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ǂ̃ˀ}} 
| ''[[glottalized palatal nasal click]]''
|-
! colspan=4| (uvular)
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|q͜ǂ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|&#x107a5;ǂ}} 
|  
| ''[[tenuis palatal click]]''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|q͜ǂʰ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|&#x107a5;ǂʰ}} 
| 
| ''[[aspirated palatal click]]''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ɢ͜ǂ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|&#x10792;ǂ}} 
| 
| ''[[voiced palatal click]]''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ɴ͜ǂ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᶰǂ}} 
| 
| ''[[palatal nasal click]]''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ɴ͜ǂ̥ʰʰ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᶰǂ̥ʰʰ}} 
| 
| ''[[aspirated palatal nasal click]]''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ɴ͜ǂˀ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᶰǂˀ}}
| 
| ''[[glottalized palatal nasal click]]''
|}

In the orthographies of individual languages, palatal clicks may be written either with digraphs based on the vertical-bar letter of the IPA, or using the Latin alphabet. [[Khoekhoe language|Khoekhoee]] and most [[Bushman]] languages use the former. Orthographies using the latter include multigraphs based on {{angbr|ç}} in [[Juǀʼhoan dialect|Juǀʼhoansi]] (1987 orthography) and originally in [[Naro language|Naro]], the latter since changed to {{angbr|tc}}, and on {{angbr|qc}}. In the 19th century, {{angbr|v}} was sometimes used (see [[click letter]]s); this might be the source of the Doke letter for the voiceless palatal click, {{angbr|ↆ}}, apparently a ''v'' over-struck with a vertical bar.

==Features==
Features of palato-alveolar clicks:

{{click manner}}
*The forward [[place of articulation]] is broad, with the tongue flat against the roof of the mouth from the [[alveolar ridge]] to the palate. The release is a sharp, plosive sound.
{{oral-nasal}}
{{central click}}
{{lingual airstream}}

==Occurrence==
Palatal clicks only occur in the southern African [[Khoisan languages]] (the [[Khoe languages|Khoe]], [[Kx'a languages|Kx'a]], and [[Tuu languages|Tuu]] families), where they are extremely common, and in Bantu languages such as [[Yeyi language|Yeyi]].

{| class="wikitable"
! Language
! Word
! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]
! Meaning 
|-
| [[Khoekhoe language|Khoekhoe]]
| '''''ǂKh'''oesaob''
|align=center| {{IPA|[ᵏǂ͡χòe̯̋sàȍ̯p]}} {{=}} {{IPA|[𝼋̊͜χòe̯̋sàȍ̯p]}}
| July
|-
| [[Taa language|Taa]]
| '''''ǂn'''ûm''
|align=center| {{IPA|[ᵑǂûm]}} {{=}} {{IPA|[𝼋̃ûm]}}
| two
|-
| [[ǂHaba language|ǂHaba]]
| '''''ǂH'''aba''
|align=center| {{IPA|[ᵏǂʰabá]}} {{=}} {{IPA|[𝼋̊ʰabá]}}
| (endonym)
|-
| [[Naro language|Naro]]
| '''''tch'''áó-kg'am''<br>''('''çh'''áó-kg'am)''
|align=center| {{IPA|[ᵏǂʰáó̯kχʼam]}} {{=}} {{IPA|[𝼋̊ʰáó̯kχʼam]}}
| to be disappointed
|-
| [[Yeyi language|Yeyi]]
|
|align=center| {{IPA|[kuᵏǂapara]}} {{=}} {{IPA|[ku𝼋̊apara]}}
|to smash up
|}

==Fricated palatal clicks==
{{Infobox IPA|above=Fricated palatal click<br><small>(tenuis)</small>
|ipa symbol=𝼋
|ipa symbol2=ǂᶴ
|ipa symbol3=ǂǂ
|ipa symbol4=ǃ͡s
}}
[[Ekoka ǃKung]] has a series of laminal postalveolar-to-palatal clicks with a noisy, fricated release which derive historically from more prototypical palatal clicks. These have been variously described as fricated alveolar clicks and (inaccurately) as [[retroflex click]]s.<ref>Heine and König (2010)</ref> Unlike typical palatal clicks, which have a sharp, abrupt release, these have a slow, turbulent anterior release that sounds much like a short inhaled {{IPAblink|ʃ}}; they also have a [[Voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant|domed tongue]] rather than a flat tongue like a typical palatal click.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} The release has also been described as lateral.<ref>Miller (2010) Phonological patterns involving new types of complex and contour segments in endangered Khoesan languages, ''CUNY Conference on the Phonology of Endangered Languages''</ref> Like the clicks they derive from, they do not have the retracted tongue root and [[Click consonant#The back-vowel constraint|back-vowel constraint]] typical of [[alveolar click]]s. A provisional transcription for the tenuis click is {{angbr IPA|ǃ͡s}}, though this misleadingly suggests that the clicks are [[Affricate consonant|affricate]]s.<ref>Miller, Holliday, Howcroft, Phillips, Smith, Tsui, & Scott. 2011. "The Phonetics of the Modern-day reflexes of the Proto-palatal click in Juu languages". In ''A concise dictionary of northwestern ǃXun'' (2008), König & Heine transcribe them {{angbr|‼}}, which is elsewhere used for the [[retroflex click]]s.</ref>  Another proposal is to resurrect the old ʃ-like letter for palatal clicks, {{angbr|𝼋}}.<!--as in section 4.5 of the introduction to Bonny Sands' forthcoming (as of 2019) volume on the phonetics of clicks-->

==Percussive release==
{{Infobox IPA
|above=Percussive alveolar click<br><small>(nasal)</small>
|ipa symbol=ᵑǂ¡ ᵑ𝼋¡
|ipa symbol2=ŋǂꜞ ŋ𝼋ꜞ
}}

Clement Doke noted a [[nasal palatal click]] with slapped release, {{IPA|[ᵑǂ¡]}}, in [[ǃKung language|ǃKung]], analogous to the [[Alveolar click#Percussive alveolar clicks|percussive alveolar clicks]] of [[Sandawe language|Sandawe]].<ref>Clement Doke (1925) An outline of the phonetics of the language of the ʗhũ̬꞉ Bushman of the North-West Kalahari. ''Bantu Studies'' 2: 129–166.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Alveolar click]]
*[[Bilabial click]]
*[[Dental click]]
*[[Lateral click]]
*[[Retroflex click]]
*[[Index of phonetics articles]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{phoible|ǂ}}

{{IPA navigation}}

[[Category:Palatal consonants]]
[[Category:Click consonants]]

[[de:Palatoalveolarer Klick]]