Editing Palatal click (section)

{{Short description|Consonantal sound}}

{{redirect-distinguish|ǂ|ⵐ|≠|‡}} 
{{distinguish|alveolar clicks}} 
{{Infobox IPA
|above={{nowrap|Tenuis palatal click}}<br /><small>(velar)</small>
|ipa symbol=k͜ǂ &nbsp; k͜𝼋 
|ipa symbol2=ᵏǂ &nbsp; ᵏ𝼋
|ipa symbol3=ǂ &nbsp; 𝼋
|ipa symbol4=
|ipa number=179|decimal=450
|imagefile=IPA Unicode 0x01C2.svg
|imagesize=150px
|xsampa==\
|braille=and |braille2=wh
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above=Voiced palatal click<br /><small>(velar)</small>
|ipa symbol=ɡ͡ǂ &nbsp; ɡ͡𝼋
|ipa symbol2=ᶢǂ &nbsp; ᶢ𝼋
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above=Nasal palatal click<br /><small>(velar)</small>
|ipa symbol=ŋ͡ǂ &nbsp; ŋ͡𝼋
|ipa symbol2=ᵑǂ &nbsp; ᵑ𝼋
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above={{nowrap|Tenuis palatal click}}<br /><small>(uvular)</small>
|ipa symbol=q͡ǂ &nbsp; q͡𝼋
|ipa symbol2=𐞥ǂ &nbsp; 𐞥𝼋
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above=Voiced palatal click<br /><small>(uvular)</small>
|ipa symbol=ɢ͡ǂ &nbsp; ɢ͡𝼋
|ipa symbol2=𐞒ǂ &nbsp; 𐞒𝼋
}}
{{Infobox IPA
|above=Nasal palatal click<br /><small>(uvular)</small>
|ipa symbol=ɴ͡ǂ &nbsp; ɴ͡𝼋
|ipa symbol2=ᶰǂ &nbsp; ᶰ𝼋
}}
The '''palatal''' or '''palato-alveolar clicks''' are a family of [[click consonant]]s found, as components of words, only in southern Africa. The tongue is nearly flat, and is pulled back rather than down as in the [[postalveolar click]]s, making a sharper sound than those consonants. ('Sharper' meaning that the energy is concentrated at higher frequencies.) The tongue makes an extremely broad contact across the roof of the mouth, making correlation with the places of articulation of non-clicks difficult, but Ladefoged & Traill (1984:18) find that the primary place of articulation is the palate, and say that "there is no doubt that {{IPA|[ǂ]}} should be described as a palatal sound".

The symbol in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] that represents the [[place of articulation]] of these sounds is {{angbr IPA|ǂ}}, a double-barred [[vertical bar]]. An older variant, the double-barred [[esh (letter)|esh]], {{angbr IPA|𝼋}} (approximately ⨎), is sometimes seen. This base letter is combined with a second element to indicate the [[manner of articulation]], though that is commonly omitted for [[Tenuis consonant|tenuis]] clicks.

Doke noted a palatal click with a slapped release, {{IPA|[ᵑǂ¡]}}.<ref>Clement Doke (1925) An outline of the phonetics of the language of the ʗhũ̬꞉ Bushman of the North-West Kalahari. ''Bantu Studies'' 2: 129–166.</ref>