The bilabial nasal click is a click consonant found in some of the languages of southern Africa. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet for a nasal bilabial click with a velar rear articulation is ⟨ŋ͡ʘ⟩ or ⟨ŋ͜ʘ⟩, commonly abbreviated to ⟨ŋʘ⟩, ⟨ᵑʘ⟩ or ⟨ʘ̃⟩. For a click with a uvular rear articulation, the equivalents are ⟨ɴ͡ʘ, ɴ͜ʘ, ɴʘ, ᶰʘ⟩. Sometimes the accompanying letter comes after the click letter, e.g. ⟨ʘŋ⟩ or ⟨ʘᵑ⟩; this may be a simple orthographic choice, or it may imply a difference in the relative timing of the releases.[1]
Nasal bilabial velar click | |
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ŋ͡ʘ | |
ᵑʘ | |
ʘ̃ | |
Audio sample | |
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Nasal bilabial uvular click | |
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ɴ͡ʘ | |
ᶰʘ |
Features of the bilabial nasal click:
Bilabial nasal clicks only occur in the Tuu and Kx'a families of southern Africa, in the Australian ritual language Damin, and for /mw/ in some of the languages neighboring Shona, such as at least for some speakers of Ndau and Tonga.
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning |
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Damin | m!ii | [ᵑʘiː] | 'vegetable' |
Tonga | kumwa | [kʼuᵑʘwa] | 'to drink' |
Ndau | mwana | [ᵑʘwana] | 'child' |
Glottalized bilabial nasal click | |
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ʘ̃ˀ ʘ̃͜ʔ | |
ᵑʘˀ ᵑ̊ʘˀ |
The Tuu and Kx'a languages also have glottalized nasal clicks. These are formed by closing the glottis so that the click is pronounced in silence; however, any preceding vowel will be nasalized.
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning |
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