Back-released click: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Consonantal sound}}

{{about|click consonants initiated with a velar release|velar vs uvular clicks with a more forward release|Click consonant#Complex clicks}}

{{Infobox IPA

|above={{nowrap|VelarBack-released velar click}}

|ipa symbol=ʞ

|ipa symbol2=ʞ̃̊

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|imagesize=150px

}}

{{Infobox IPA

|above={{nowrap|Back-released uvular click}}

|ipa symbol=ʞ̠

|ipa symbol2=ᶰ̥ʞ

|ipa-number=291

|decimal=670

|imagefile=IPA Unicode 0x029E.svg

|imagesize=150px

}}

{{about|click consonants initiated with a velar release|velar vs uvular clicks with a more forward release|Click consonant#Complex clicks}}

A '''velarback-released click''', orsometimes more precisely a '''backvelar-released velarclick''' or '''uvular-released click''', is a [[click consonant]] found in [[paralinguistic]] use in languages across Africa, such as [[Wolof language|Wolof]].<ref name=Grenoble>{{cite journal|first=Lenore|last=Grenoble|year=2014|title=Verbal gestures: Toward a field-based approach to language description|editor-last=Plungian|editor-first=Vladimir|display-editors=etal|journal=Language. Constants. Variables: In Memory of A. E. Kibrik|pages=105–118|publisher=Aleteija|___location=Saint Petersburg|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309852110}}</ref><ref name="Grenoble et al">{{cite journal|last1=Grenoble|last2=Martinovic|last3=Baglini|year=2015|title=Verbal gestures in Wolof|journal=Proceedings of the 44th Annual Conference on African Linguistics|___location=Somerville, MA|publisher=Cascadilla Press|url=https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/grenoble/files/2014/06/GrenobleMartinovicBaglini.pdf}}</ref> The tongue is in a similar position to other click articulations, such as an [[alveolar click]], and like other clicks, the airstream mechanism is [[lingual airstream|lingual]]. However, unlike other clicks, the salient sound is produced by releasing the rear (probably velar or uvular) closure of the tongue rather than the front closure. Consequently, the air that fills the vacuum comes from behind the tongue, from the nasal cavity and the throat. Velar- and uvular-released clicks are always voiceless and typically nasal ({{IPA|[ʞ̃̊ᵑ̊ʞ]}} or {{IPA|[ᵑ̊ʞᶰ̥ʞ]}}), as nasal airflow is required for a reasonably loud production.

==IPA symbol withdrawn==

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The last mention of the "velar" clicks was in the 1949 ''Principles''. It was omitted when the other three click letters were moved into the symbol chart in 1951, and was not mentioned again.

An actual velar click, in the sense that term is used with the languages of southern Africa, is not possible. A click is articulated with two closures of the tongue or lips. The rear articulation of all clicks is velar or uvular, and the families of dental, alveolar, palatal, and bilabial clicks are defined by the front closure, which is released to cause the influx of air from the front of the mouth that identifies athe type of click. A forward closure in the velar region would leave no room for the air pocket that generates that influx of air.<ref>Pullum & Ladusaw (2013) ''[[Phonetic Symbol Guide]]'', University of Chicago Press, p. 101.</ref>

From 2008 to 2015 the unused letter was picked up by the [[extensions to the IPA]] to mark a [[velodorsal]] articulation in [[speech pathology]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/extIPAChart2008.pdf |title=extIPA Symbols for Disordered Speech |website=www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk |access-date=13 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722085129/http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/extIPAChart2008.pdf |archive-date=22 July 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

However, velar clicks are possible in the sense that the release sequence of the tongue closures can be reversed: in [[paralinguistic]] use in languages such as Wolof, it is the rear (often velar) closure rather than front one that is released to produce the sound, and such clicks arehave termedalso been called 'velar'.<ref name=Lionnet>Florian Lionnet, (fFlorian.c 2020.) "Paralinguistic use of clicks in Chad". In Bonny Sands (ed.), ''Click Consonants'', pp. 422-437. Leiden: Brill.</ref>

The letter {{angbr IPA|ʞ}} letterhas wasbeen resurrectedused for such sounds (though not by the IPA itself), and was dropped from the extIPA to avoid confusion with suchthat usage.

A retraction diacritic may be used, {{angbr IPA|ʞ̠}}, to specify a uvular release.

==Production==

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Paralinguistic velar clicks are attested from a number of languages in west and central Africa, from Senegal in the west to northern Cameroon and southern Chad in the east. The literature reports at least [[Laal language|Laal]], [[Mambay language|Mambay]], [[Mundang language|Mundang]], and [[Kanuri language|Kanuri]] in the east, and [[Wolof language|Wolof]] and Mauritanian [[Pulaar language|Pulaar]] in the west.<ref name=Lionnet/>

In Wolof, a back-released velar click is in [[free variation]] with a [[lateral click]] or an [[alveolar click]]. It means 'yes' when used once, and 'I see' or 'I get it' when repeated. It's is also used for [[Backchannel (linguistics)|back-channeling]].<ref name="Grenoble et al"/> In Laal as well, it is used for "strong agreement" and [[Backchannel (linguistics)|back-channeling]], and is in free variation with the lateral click. It appears to have the same two functions in the other languages.<ref name=Lionnet/>

==See also==