A '''back-released click''', sometimes calledmore precisely a '''back-released velar click''' or '''back-released uvular 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 (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 clicks are always voiceless and typically nasal ({{IPA|[ʞ̃̊]}}, {{IPA|[ᵑ̊ʞ]}} or {{IPA|[ᶰ̥ʞ]}}), as nasal airflow is required for a reasonably loud production.
