Editing Ejective consonant (section)

==Description==
In producing an ejective, the [[stylohyoid muscle]] and [[digastric muscle]] contract, causing the [[hyoid bone]] and the connected glottis to rise, and the forward articulation (at the velum in the case of {{IPA|[kʼ]}}) is held, raising air pressure greatly in the mouth so when the oral articulators separate, there is a dramatic burst of air.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Ladefoged|2005|pp=147–148}}</ref> The [[Adam's apple]] may be seen moving when the sound is pronounced. In the languages in which they are more obvious, ejectives are often described as sounding like "spat" consonants, but ejectives are often quite weak. In some contexts and in some languages, they are easy to mistake for tenuis or even voiced stops.<ref name=Fallon>Fallon, 2002. ''The synchronic and diachronic phonology of ejectives''</ref> These weakly ejective articulations are sometimes called ''intermediates'' in older American linguistic literature and are notated with different phonetic symbols: {{angbr IPA|C!}} = strongly ejective, {{angbr IPA|Cʼ}} = weakly ejective. Strong and weak ejectives have not been found to be [[Phonemic contrast|contrastive]] in any natural language.

In strict, technical terms, ejectives are [[Airstream mechanism#Glottalic initiation|glottalic egressive]] consonants. The most common ejective is {{IPA|[kʼ]}} even if it is more difficult to produce than other ejectives like {{IPA|[tʼ]}} or {{IPA|[pʼ]}} because the auditory distinction between {{IPA|[kʼ]}} and {{IPA|[k]}} is greater than with other ejectives and voiceless consonants of the same [[place of articulation]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Harvcoltxt|Ladefoged|2005|p=148}}</ref> In proportion to the frequency of [[uvular consonant]]s, {{IPA|[qʼ]}} is even more common, as would be expected from the very small oral cavity used to pronounce a [[voiceless uvular stop]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} {{IPA|[pʼ]}}, on the other hand, is quite rare. That is the opposite pattern to what is found in the [[implosive consonant]]s, in which the bilabial is common and the velar is rare.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Greenberg|1970|p=?}}</ref>

Ejective fricatives are rare for presumably the same reason: with the air escaping from the mouth while the pressure is being raised, like inflating a leaky bicycle tire, it is harder to distinguish the resulting sound as salient as a {{IPA|[kʼ]}}.