Back-released click: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:12, 11 April 2020

Revision as of 10:02, 13 April 2020

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==IPA symbol withdrawn==

In 1921, the [[International Phonetic Association]] (IPA) adopted [[Daniel Jones (phonetician)|Daniel Jones]]' symbol {{angbr IPA|ʞ}}, a turned lowercase K, for the [[palatal click]]s of [[Khoekhoe language|Khoekhoe]],.<ref>{{cite book

|author=Association phonétique internationale

|year=1921

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|ref=harv

|url=https://archive.org/details/ecriturephonetiqueinternationale1921

}}</ref>

}}</ref> which he called 'velar'.<ref>{{cite book

Jones seems to have first applied the label "velar" in an IPA publication in 1928.<ref>{{cite book

|last=Jones

|first=Daniel

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|pages=18–27

|ref=harv

}} Reprinted in ''Le Maître Phonétique'' 3, 6 (23), July–September 1928, {{jstor|44704262}}. Reprinted in {{harvp|Collins|Mees|2003}}.</ref>

}} Reprinted in ''Le Maître Phonétique'' 3, 6 (23), July–September 1928, {{jstor|44704262}}. Reprinted in {{harvp|Collins|Mees|2003}}.</ref> At the time, little was known about the articulation of clicks, and different authors used different labels for the same sounds – Doke, for example, called the same clicks 'alveolar'.<ref>Doke, Clement M. (1925) "An outline of the phonetics of the language of the ʗhũ: Bushman of the North-West Kalahari", ''Bantu Studies'' 2: 129–166.</ref> The IPA adopted the label 'velar' in its 1949 chart, and in 1979 withdrew the symbol because a truly velar click was judged to be impossible. The reasoning was that a click could not be produced in which both the front and rear closures occurred at the back of the tongue. (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.)

At the time, little was known about the articulation of clicks, and different authors used different labels for the same sounds – Doke, for example, called the same clicks 'alveolar'.<ref>Doke, Clement M. (1925) "An outline of the phonetics of the language of the ʗhũ: Bushman of the North-West Kalahari", ''Bantu Studies'' 2: 129–166.</ref>

{{blockquote|"A click is produced by creating a velar closure simultaneously with a more anterior closure, creating suction between the two by sliding back the velar closure, and then releasing the anterior closure to create the click. The two closures must be separated by at least a centimeter or two, so a velar click is a contradiction in terms. [Hence] the symbol could never be validly used.<ref>Pullum & Ladusaw (2013) ''[[Phonetic Symbol Guide]]'', University of Chicago Press.</ref>}}

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.

Indeed, no language is known in which a velar release of the tongue triggers an influx of air from the front of the mouth. However, in languages such as Wolof, velar clicks are possible because the release sequence is reversed: there is a centimeter or two of separation between the front and rear closures of the tongue, and it is the rear (velar) rather than front closure that is released to produce the sound.<ref name=Lionnet>Florian Lionnet (f.c.) "Paralinguistic use of clicks in Chad"</ref>

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 a 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>

The letter was dropped from the IPA, but from 2008 to 2015 was picked up by the [[extensions to the IPA]] to mark a velodorsal articulation in [[speech pathology]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140722085129/http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/extIPAChart2008.pdf]</ref> It was then dropped from the extIPA to avoid confusion with the old IPA usage, which is still used in publication.

TheFrom letter2008 wasto dropped from2015 the IPA,unused but from 2008 to 2015letter was picked up by the [[extensions to the IPA]] to mark a [[velodorsal]] articulation in [[speech pathology]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140722085129/http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/extIPAChart2008.pdf]</ref> It was then dropped from the extIPA to avoid confusion with the old IPA usage, which is still used in publication.

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 (velar) closure rather than front one that is released to produce the sound, and such clicks are termed 'velar'.<ref name=Lionnet>Florian Lionnet (f.c.) "Paralinguistic use of clicks in Chad"</ref>

The IPA letter was resurrected for such sounds, and dropped from the extIPA to avoid confusion with such usage.

==Production==