Retroflex click

Tenuis retroflex click (velar)
k͜𝼊
ᵏ𝼊
𝼊
k͜‼ ᵏ‼
k͜ψ ᵏψ
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	𝼊
Unicode (hex)	U+1DF0A
Image

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 ⟨𝼊⟩.^[2][3] However, usage is rare. In the literature, retroflex clicks are typically written with the ad hoc digraph ⟨‼⟩, the convention since Doke identified them as retroflex in 1925. (Doke's proposed symbol, ⟨ψ⟩,^[4] did not catch on, though it has IPA support for historical transcription, nor did Vedder's and Anders' ⟨⦀⟩.^[5] For a while Amanda Miller, who noted a lateral fricated release (as had Vedder), transcribed them ⟨ǃ𐞷⟩.^[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 ⟨rn!⟩, 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 [ᵑǃ̠] (⟨rn!⟩) vs a more fronted apical [ᵑǃ̪] (⟨n!⟩).

Basic retroflex clicks are:

Features of postalveolar clicks:

• The basic articulation may be voiced, nasal, aspirated, glottalized, etc.
• 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.
• Clicks may be oral or nasal, which means that the airflow is either restricted to the mouth, or passes through the nose as well.
• It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream over the sides of the tongue, rather than down the middle.
• The airstream mechanism is lingual ingressive (also known as velaric ingressive), which means a pocket of air trapped between two closures is rarefied by a "sucking" action of the tongue, rather than being moved by the glottis or the lungs/diaphragm. The release of the forward closure produces the "click" sound. Voiced and nasal clicks have a simultaneous pulmonic egressive airstream.

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', [ᶢ𝼊𐞷ú] (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.

• The fricated palatal click of Ekoka ǃKung, which was once thought to be retroflex
• Alveolar click
• Bilabial click
• Dental click
• Lateral click
• Palatal click

• Scott, Abigail; Miller, Amanda; Namaseb, Levi; Sands, Bonny; Shah, Sheena (June 2, 2010). "Retroflex Clicks in Two Dialects of ǃXung". University of Botswana, Department of African Languages.