Editing Alveolar click (section)

{{Short description|Click consonant sound}}
{{hatnote|Not to be confused with the [[retroflex click]]s or [[palatal click]]s. Unicode uses the obsolete descriptions of "retroflex click" for the alveolar-click character {{angbr IPA|ǃ}} and "alveolar click" for the palatal-click character {{angbr IPA|ǂ}}.}}
{{Other uses of|!|! (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above={{nowrap|Tenuis alveolar click}}<br /><small>(velar)</small>
|ipa symbol=k͜ǃ &nbsp; k͜ʗ
|ipa symbol2=ᵏǃ &nbsp; ᵏʗ
|ipa symbol3=ǃ &nbsp; ʗ
|ipa number=178, 202
|decimal1=451
|decimal2=663
|imagefile=IPA Unicode 0x01C3.svg
|imagesize=150px
|xsampa=!\|kirshenbaum=c!<ref>Kirshenbaum assigned {{angbr|c!}} to IPA {{angbr|ʗ}}, which it used indifferently for both alveolar {{angbr|ǃ}} and palatal {{angbr|ǂ}} clicks.</ref>
|braille=and |braille2=t
}}
{{Infobox IPA|above=Voiced alveolar click<br /><small>(velar)</small>
|ipa symbol=ɡ͡ǃ &nbsp; ɡ͡ʗ
|ipa symbol2=ᶢǃ &nbsp; ᶢʗ
}}
{{Infobox IPA|above=Alveolar nasal click<br /><small>(velar)</small>
|ipa symbol=ŋ͡ǃ &nbsp; ŋ͡ʗ
|ipa symbol2=ᵑǃ &nbsp; ᵑʗ
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above={{nowrap|Tenuis alveolar click}}<br /><small>(uvular)</small>
|ipa symbol=q͡ǃ &nbsp; q͡ʗ
|ipa symbol2=𐞥ǃ &nbsp; 𐞥ʗ
}}
{{Infobox IPA|above=Voiced alveolar click<br /><small>(uvular)</small>
|ipa symbol=ɢ͡ǃ &nbsp; ɢ͡ʗ
|ipa symbol2=𐞒ǃ &nbsp; 𐞒ʗ
}}
{{Infobox IPA|above=Alveolar nasal click<br /><small>(uvular)</small>
|ipa symbol=ɴ͡ǃ &nbsp; ɴ͡ʗ
|ipa symbol2=ᶰǃ &nbsp; ᶰʗ
}}

The '''alveolar''' or '''postalveolar clicks''' are a family of [[click consonant]]s found only in [[Africa]] and in the [[Damin]] ritual jargon of [[Australia]]. The tongue is more or less concave (depending on the language), and is pulled down rather than back as in the [[palatal click]]s, making a hollower sound than those consonants.

The symbol in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] that represents the [[place of articulation]] of these sounds is {{angbr IPA|ǃ}}. The symbol is not an [[exclamation mark]] in origin, but rather a [[Dental clicks|vertical bar]] with a subscript dot, the dot being the old diacritic for retroflex consonants. Prior to 1989, {{angbr IPA|ʗ}} (stretched c) was the IPA letter for the alveolar clicks, and this is still preferred by some phoneticians. The tail of {{angbr IPA|ʗ}} may be the tail of retroflex consonants in the IPA, and thus analogous to the underdot of {{angbr IPA|ǃ}}.<ref>Pullum & Ladusaw, ''[[Phonetic Symbol Guide]],'' p. 34</ref> Either letter may be combined with a second letter to indicate the [[manner of articulation]], though this is commonly omitted for [[tenuis consonant|tenuis]] clicks.