Retroflex click
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The retroflex clicks are a family of click consonants known only from the Central ǃKung language or dialect of Namibia.[1] They are sub-apical retroflex and should not be confused with the more widespread postalveolar clicks, which are sometimes mistakenly called "retroflex" (for example in Unicode) due to their concave tongue shape.
The 'implicit' symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the forward articulation of these sounds is Template:Angbr IPA.[2][3] However, usage is rare. In the literature, retroflex clicks are typically written with the ad hoc digraph Template:Angbr IPA, the convention since Doke identified them as retroflex in 1925. (Doke's proposed symbol, Template:Angbr IPA,[4] did not catch on, though it has IPA support for historical transcription, nor did Vedder's and Anders' Template:Angbr.[5] For a while Amanda Miller, who noted a lateral fricated release (as had Vedder), transcribed them Template:Angbr IPA.[6])
Retroflex clicks are extraordinarily rare. True retroflex clicks occur in at least some dialects of Central ǃKung. They are reconstructed for the Proto-Kxʼa language and tentatively for Proto-Khoe–Kwadi.[7] The Damin ritual jargon of Australia may have had a voiced nasal retroflex click, transcribed by Hale & Nash as Template:Angbr, though it's not known if it was phonemically distinct. However, Damin clicks presumably reflected the consonant articulations of Lardil, in which the "retroflex" consonants are retracted apical alveolar rather than true retroflex, so it is likely that the Damin distinction could be described as post-alveolar apical Script error: No such module "IPA". (Template:Angbr) vs a more fronted apical Script error: No such module "IPA". (Template:Angbr).
Retroflex click consonants and their transcription
Basic retroflex clicks in three common transcription conventions are:
| Trans. I | Trans. II | Trans. III | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| (velar) | |||
| Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | tenuis retroflex click |
| Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | aspirated retroflex click |
| Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | voiced retroflex click |
| Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | retroflex nasal click |
| Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | aspirated retroflex nasal click |
| Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | glottalized retroflex nasal click |
| (uvular) | |||
| Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | tenuis retroflex click | |
| Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | aspirated retroflex click | |
| Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | voiced retroflex click | |
| Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | retroflex nasal click | |
| Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | aspirated retroflex nasal click | |
| Template:Angbr IPA | Template:Angbr IPA | glottalized retroflex nasal click | |
Features
Features of postalveolar clicks:
- The place of articulation is post-alveolar, and the tongue shape may be subapical, which means it is articulated with the tip of the tongue curled up. The center of the tongue moves downward to create suction.
Template:Oral-nasal Template:Lateral Template:Lingual airstream
Occurrence
As with other click articulations, retroflex clicks may be produced with various manners. An example is the voiced retroflex click in the Grootfontein ǃKung (Central Juu) word for 'water', Script error: No such module "IPA". (g‼ú).
Damin is the only other language known to have had such a sound, though only the nasal click occurred.
A retroflex series claimed for Ekoka ǃKung turns out to be domed palatal clicks.
See also
- The fricated palatal click of Ekoka ǃKung, which was once thought to be retroflex
- Alveolar click
- Bilabial click
- Dental click
- Lateral click
- Palatal click
Notes and references
Template:Notelist Template:Reflist
Further reading
- Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Kirk Miller & Michael Ashby, L2/20-253R Unicode request for IPA modifier letters (b), non-pulmonic.
- ↑ The character Template:Angbr IPA was recently added to Unicode in 2021. It may be substituted in some fonts with a combining diacritic, such as Template:Angbr IPA (with U+0322 Template:Smallcaps all) or Template:Angbr IPA (with U+0328 Template:Smallcaps all).
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
—— Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1". - ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Anne-Maria Fehn & Jorge Rocha (2023) Lost in translation: A historical-comparative reconstruction of Proto-Khoe-Kwadi based on archival data. Diachronica 40:5, p. 609–665.