Editing Lateral click (section)

{{Short description|Consonantal sound}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above={{nowrap|Tenuis lateral click}}<br /><small>(velar)</small>
|ipa symbol=k͜ǁ &nbsp; k͜ʖ 
|ipa symbol2=ᵏǁ &nbsp; ᵏʖ
|ipa symbol3=ǁ &nbsp; ʖ
|ipa number=180
|decimal1=449
|decimal2=662
|imagefile=IPA Unicode 0x01C1.svg
|imagesize=150px
|xsampa=<nowiki>|\|\</nowiki>
|braille=and |braille2=l
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above=Voiced lateral click<br /><small>(velar)</small>
|ipa symbol=ɡ͡ǁ &nbsp; ɡ͡ʖ 
|ipa symbol2=ᶢǁ &nbsp; ᶢʖ
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above=Nasal lateral click<br /><small>(velar)</small>
|ipa symbol=ŋ͡ǁ &nbsp; ŋ͡ʖ
|ipa symbol2=ᵑǁ &nbsp; ᵑʖ
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above={{nowrap|Tenuis lateral click}}<br /><small>(uvular)</small>
|ipa symbol=q͡ǁ &nbsp; q͡ʖ
|ipa symbol2=𐞥ǁ &nbsp; 𐞥ʖ
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above=Voiced lateral click<br /><small>(uvular)</small>
|ipa symbol=ɢ͡ǁ &nbsp; ɢ͡ʖ
|ipa symbol2=𐞒ǁ &nbsp; 𐞒ʖ
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above=Nasal lateral click<br /><small>(uvular)</small>
|ipa symbol=ɴ͡ǁ &nbsp; ɴ͡ʖ
|ipa symbol2=ᶰǁ &nbsp; ᶰʖ
}}

The '''lateral clicks''' are a family of [[click consonant]]s found only in [[Languages of Africa|African language]]s. The clicking sound used by [[equestrianism|equestrians]] to urge on their [[horse]]s is a lateral click, although it is not a speech sound in that context. Lateral clicks are found throughout southern Africa, for example in [[Zulu_language#Phonology|Zulu]], and in some languages in Tanzania and Namibia. The place of articulation is not known to be contrastive in any language, and typically varies from alveolar to palatal.

The symbol in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] that represents a generic lateral click is {{angbr IPA|ǁ}}, a double [[vertical bar]]. Prior to 1989, {{angbr IPA|ʖ}}<ref>Styled as either a digit {{angbr|5}} with the top removed, or an inverted glottal stop {{angbr|ʔ}}. It perhaps derives from a [[cedilla]] written the size of a full letter.</ref> was the IPA letter for the lateral clicks, and this is still preferred by some phoneticians, as the vertical bar may be confounded with prosody marks, two dental clicks, and in some fonts, with a double lowercase [[L]]. 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 with a velar rear articulation.