Editing Taa language (section)

====West ǃXoon (DoBeS)====
West ǃXoon has 164 consonants in a strict unit analysis, including 111 clicks in 23 series, which under a cluster analysis reduce to 87 consonants, including 43 clicks.

These are written in the practical orthography (Naumann 2008).<ref>{{Citation |last=Naumann |first=Christfied |title=3rd International Symposium on Khoisan Languages and Linguistics |year=2008 |chapter=The Consonantal System of West ǃXoon |place=Riezlern}}</ref> Marginal consonants are not marked as such.

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ West ǃXoon dialect (DoBeS 2008): Consonants
! colspan=2 | 
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]] 
! colspan=2| [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] 
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] 
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]] 
! colspan=2| [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]] 
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
! Click{{notetag|name=wildcard}}
|-
! rowspan=6 | [[Stop consonant|Stop]] /<br/>[[affricate]]
! <small>[[Voiced consonant|voiced]]</small> 
|  {{IPAlink|b}} || {{IPAlink|d}} || {{IPAlink|d͡z}} || || {{IPAlink|ɡ}} || {{IPAlink|ᶰɢ}} || || || gꞰ
|-
! <small>[[Tenuis consonant|tenuis]]</small> 
|  {{IPAlink|p}} || {{IPAlink|t}} || {{IPAlink|t͡s}} || || {{IPAlink|k}} || {{IPAlink|q}} || || {{IPAlink|ʔ}} || Ʞ
|-
! <small>[[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]]</small> 
|  {{IPAlink|pʰ}} || {{IPAlink|tʰ}} || {{IPAlink|t͡sʰ}} || || {{IPAlink|kʰ}} || {{IPAlink|qʰ}} ||  || rowspan=4| || Ʞh
|-
! <small>voiced aspirated</small> 
|  {{IPAlink|bʱ}} || {{IPAlink|dʱ}} || {{IPAlink|d͡zʱ}} || || {{IPAlink|ɡʱ}} || {{IPAlink|ᶰɢʱ}} || || gꞰh
|-
! <small>[[Ejective consonant|ejective]]</small> 
|  {{IPAlink|pʼ}} || {{IPAlink|tʼ}} || {{IPAlink|t͡sʼ}} || || {{IPAlink|kʼ}} || {{IPAlink|qʼ}} || {{IPAlink|q͡χʼ}} || Ʞʼ
|-
! <small>voiced 'ejective'</small>
|  || ||  {{IPAlink|d͡zˀ}} || || {{IPAlink|ɡˀ}} || {{IPAlink|ɢˀ}} || {{IPAlink|ɢ͡ʁˀ}} || gꞰʼ
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]] 
|  {{IPAlink|f}} || colspan=2| {{IPAlink|s}} || ||  || colspan=2| {{IPAlink|χ}} || {{IPAlink|ɦ}}
|
|-
! rowspan=3 | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]  
! <small>voiced</small> 
|  {{IPAlink|m}} || colspan=2| {{IPAlink|n}} || {{IPAlink|ɲ}} || {{IPAlink|ŋ}} || colspan=2|  || rowspan=5| || nꞰ
|-
! <small>voiceless</small> 
|  colspan=7| || nhꞰ
|-
! <small>[[Glottalization|glottalized]]</small>
|  {{IPAlink|ˀm}} || colspan=2| {{IPAlink|ˀn}} || || || colspan=2|  || ʼnꞰ
|-
! colspan=2 | [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|  {{IPAlink|w}} || colspan=2| {{IPAlink|l}} || {{IPAlink|j}} || || colspan=4|  
|-
! colspan=2 | "Intermittent"
|   || colspan=2| {{IPAlink|ɾ}} ||  || || colspan=4| 
|}

Vowel nasalization is only phonemic on the second [[mora (linguistics)|mora]] (in CCVV etc. syllables), as it is a phonetic effect of the {{angbr|nꞰhh}} clicks on the first mora. The {{angbr|nꞰhh}} clicks do not make the following vowel breathy, maintaining a contrast between {{angbr|nǂhha}} and {{angbr|nǂhhah}}. Likewise, while {{angbr|gꞰʼ}} clicks do make the following vowel [[creaky voice|creaky]], there is a delayed onset to the vowel and the amplitude of the glottalization of {{angbr|gǂʼaʼ}} is less than that of {{angbr|gǂaʼ}} with a phonemically creaky vowel.

In an attempt to keep the phonemic inventory as symmetric as possible, the DoBeS team analyzed as segments two of the click types that Traill analyzed as clusters. These are the pre-glottalized nasal clicks, ''ʼnꞰ'', which Traill had analyzed as {{IPA|/Ʞ/ + /ʼn/}}, and the voiced aspirated clicks, ''gꞰh'', which Traill had analyzed as {{IPA|/ɡꞰ/ + /qʰ/}}.

The expectation, from the morphology of ǃXoon, for voiceless-voiced pairs of click clusters led to the discovery of several series not distinguished by Traill. (This morphology appears to be more pervasive in West ǃXoon than in the East ǃXoon dialect that Traill worked on.) These are voiced click types which may not exist in East ǃXoon at all, namely ''nꞰʼʼ, nꞰhh, gꞰʼ,'' and ''gꞰqʼ.'' It also lead to the rediscovery of two series that Traill had not been able to publish before his death. Thus the DoBeS team distinguishes two series, ''Ʞqh'' and ''Ʞh,'' for Trail's ''Ʞqh'' and ''Ʞkh'', as well as ''Ʞʼʼ'' and ''Ʞʼ'' for Traill's ''Ʞqʼ'' and ''Ʞkʼ'' (or perhaps vice versa). If Traill's ''Ʞkh'' series is to be analyzed as ''kꞰ + h'', then that would require a different assessment of Traill's delayed-aspiration series.

Under the contour analysis of Miller (2009), the distinction between simple and [[contour click]]s largely parallels the DoBeS identification of clusters, apart from the last four rows (Ʞʼʼ, nꞰʼʼ, Ʞhh, nꞰhh), which are considered to be simple clicks.