| Tenuis retroflex click (velar) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| k͜𝼊 | |||
| ᵏ𝼊 | |||
| 𝼊 | |||
| k͜‼ ᵏ‼ | |||
| k͜ψ ᵏψ | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | 𝼊 | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+1DF0A | ||
| |||
| Voiced retroflex click (velar) | |
|---|---|
| ɡ͡𝼊 | |
| ᶢ𝼊 | |
| ɡ͡ψ ᶢψ |
| Retroflex nasal click (velar) | |
|---|---|
| ŋ͡𝼊 | |
| ᵑ𝼊 | |
| ŋ͡ψ ᵑψ |
| Tenuis retroflex click (uvular) | |
|---|---|
| q͡𝼊 | |
| 𐞥𝼊 | |
| q͡ψ 𐞥ψ |
| Voiced retroflex click (uvular) | |
|---|---|
| ɢ͡𝼊 | |
| 𐞒𝼊 | |
| ɢ͡ψ 𐞒ψ |
| Retroflex nasal click (uvular) | |
|---|---|
| ɴ͡𝼊 | |
| ᶰ𝼊 | |
| ɴ͡ψ ᶰψ |
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:
| Trans. I | Trans. II | Trans. III | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| (velar) | |||
| ⟨k͜𝼊⟩ | ⟨ᵏ𝼊⟩ | ⟨𝼊⟩ | tenuis retroflex click |
| ⟨k͜𝼊ʰ⟩ | ⟨ᵏ𝼊ʰ⟩ | ⟨𝼊ʰ⟩ | aspirated retroflex click |
| ⟨ɡ͜𝼊⟩ | ⟨ᶢ𝼊⟩ | ⟨𝼊̬⟩ | voiced retroflex click |
| ⟨ŋ͜𝼊⟩ | ⟨ᵑ𝼊⟩ | ⟨𝼊̬̃⟩ | retroflex nasal click |
| ⟨ŋ͜𝼊ʰʰ⟩ | ⟨ᵑ𝼊ʰʰ⟩ | ⟨𝼊̃ʰʰ⟩ | aspirated retroflex nasal click |
| ⟨ŋ͜𝼊ˀ⟩ | ⟨ᵑ𝼊ˀ⟩ | ⟨𝼊̃ˀ⟩ | glottalized retroflex nasal click |
| (uvular) | |||
| ⟨q͜𝼊⟩ | ⟨𐞥𝼊⟩ | tenuis retroflex click | |
| ⟨q͜𝼊ʰ⟩ | ⟨𐞥𝼊ʰ⟩ | aspirated retroflex click | |
| ⟨ɢ͜𝼊⟩ | ⟨𐞒𝼊⟩ | voiced retroflex click | |
| ⟨ɴ͜𝼊⟩ | ⟨ᶰ𝼊⟩ | retroflex nasal click | |
| ⟨ɴ͜𝼊ʰʰ⟩ | ⟨ᶰ𝼊ʰʰ⟩ | aspirated retroflex nasal click | |
| ⟨ɴ͜𝼊ˀ⟩ | ⟨ᶰ𝼊ˀ⟩ | glottalized retroflex nasal 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.
- ^ Kirk Miller & Michael Ashby, L2/20-253R Unicode request for IPA modifier letters (b), non-pulmonic.
- ^ The Unicode character ⟨𝼊⟩ was only adopted 2021. It may be substituted in some fonts with a combining diacritic, such as ⟨ǃ̢⟩ or ⟨ǃ̨⟩.
- ^ 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. doi:10.1080/02561751.1923.9676181.
- ^ Anders, H.D. (1935). "A note on a South Eastern Bushman dialect". Zeitschrift für Eingeborenen-Sprachen. 25: 81–89.
—— "The clicks". South African Journal of Science. 33: 926–939. 1937. - ^ Miller, Amanda (2009). Contrastive Coronal Click Types in !Xung.
- ^ 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.