Editing Lateral click

{{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.

== Lateral click consonants and their transcription ==
In official IPA transcription, the click letter is combined with a {{angbr IPA|k ɡ ŋ q ɢ ɴ}} via a tie bar, though {{angbr IPA|k}} is frequently omitted. Many authors instead use a superscript {{angbr IPA|k ɡ ŋ q ɢ ɴ}} without the tie bar, again often neglecting the {{angbr IPA|k}}. Either letter, whether baseline or superscript, is usually placed before the click letter, but may come after when the release of the velar or uvular occlusion is audible. A third convention is the click letter with diacritics for voicelessness, voicing and nasalization; this does not distinguish velar from uvular lateral clicks. Common lateral clicks in these three transcriptions are:

{| class="wikitable"
! Trans. I !! Trans. II !! Trans. III !! Description 
|-
! colspan=4| (velar)
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|k͜ǁ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᵏǁ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ǁ}} 
| ''[[tenuis lateral click]]''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|k͜ǁʰ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᵏǁʰ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ǁʰ}} 
| ''[[aspirated consonant|aspirated]] lateral click''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ɡ͜ǁ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᶢǁ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ǁ̬}} 
| ''[[voiced lateral click]]''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ŋ͜ǁ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᵑǁ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ǁ̬̃}} 
| ''[[lateral nasal click]]''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ŋ͜ǁ̥ʰʰ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᵑǁ̥ʰʰ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ǁ̥̃ʰʰ}} 
| ''aspirated lateral nasal click''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ŋ͜ǁˀ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᵑǁˀ}}
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ǁ̃ˀ}} 
| ''[[glottalized lateral nasal click]]''
|-
! colspan=4| (uvular)
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|q͜ǁ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|&#x107a5;ǁ}} 
|  
| ''tenuis lateral click''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|q͜ǁʰ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|&#x107a5;ǁʰ}} 
| 
| ''aspirated lateral click''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ɢ͜ǁ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|&#x10792;ǁ}} 
| 
| ''voiced lateral click''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ɴ͜ǁ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᶰǁ}} 
| 
| ''lateral nasal click''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ɴ͜ǁ̥ʰʰ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᶰǁ̥ʰʰ}} 
| 
| ''aspirated lateral nasal click''
|-
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ɴ͜ǁˀ}} 
| style="font-size:24px" align="center"|{{angbr IPA|ᶰǁˀ}}
| 
| ''glottalized lateral nasal click''
|}
The last is what is heard in the sound sample above, as non-native speakers tend to glottalize clicks to avoid nasalizing them.

In the orthographies of individual languages, the letters and digraphs for lateral clicks may be based on either the vertical bar symbol of the IPA, {{angbr IPA|ǁ}}, or on the Latin {{angbr|x}} of Bantu convention. [[Nama language|Nama]] and most [[Bushman]] languages use the former; [[Naro language|Naro]], [[Sandawe language|Sandawe]], and [[Zulu language|Zulu]] use the latter.

== Features ==
The specific articulation of lateral clicks may vary from language to language, from dental to palatal, apical or laminal, though no contrast between such articulations has been confirmed apart from the [[retroflex click]]s, which may have lateral release.

Features of lateral clicks:
{{click manner}}
* The release of the forward [[place of articulation]] is a noisy, [[affricate consonant|affricate]]-like sound in southern Africa, but abrupt in Hadza and Sandawe in East Africa.
{{oral-nasal}}
* They are [[lateral consonant]]s, which means they are produced by releasing the airstream at the side of the tongue, rather than in the middle. Some speakers pronounce them on one side of the mouth, some on both.
{{lingual airstream}}

Regarding [[Khoekhoe language|Khoekhoe]], Tindall notes that European learners almost invariably pronounce these sounds as simple laterals, by placing the tongue against the side teeth, and that this articulation is "harsh and foreign to the native ear". The Nama instead cover the whole of the palate with the tongue, and produce the sound "as far back in the palate as possible".<ref>Tindal (1858) ''A grammar and vocabulary of the Namaqua-Hottentot language''</ref>

== Occurrence ==

[[English language|English]] does not have a lateral click (or any click consonant, for that matter) as a phoneme, but an unreleased<ref>In the English sound, the velar closure is not released, unlike the released sounds found in languages that combine clicks with vowels.</ref> lateral click does occur as an [[interjection]], usually written ''tchick!'' or ''tchek!'' (and often [[Reduplication|reduplicated]] ''tchick-tchick!''), used to urge a horse to move. A form of click can also be heard by some English speakers when [[wikt:scoff|scoffing]], but this is generally a [[dental click]] rather than a lateral click.

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2"|Language !! Word !! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]!! Meaning !! Notes
|-
| colspan="2" | [[ǃKung language|ǃKung]] || '''''nǁ'''an'' || align="center" | {{IPA|[ᵑǁàŋ] {{=}} [ʖ̃àŋ]}}|| '[[marama bean]]'||
|-
| colspan="2" rowspan="4" | [[Hadza language|Hadza]]
| {{lang|hts|e'''x'''ekeke}} || align="center" | {{IPA|[ʔeᵏǁekeke] {{=}} [ʔeʖ̥ekeke]}}||'to listen'||
|-
| {{lang|hts|na'''xh'''i}} || align="center" | {{IPA|[naᵏǁʰi] {{=}} [naʖ̥ʰi]}}||'to crowd'||
|-
| {{lang|hts|ko'''nx'''a}} || align="center" | {{IPA|[koᵑǁa] {{=}} [koʖ̃a]}}||'to be a pair'||
|-
| {{lang|hts|sla'''xx'''a}} || align="center" | {{IPA|[ɬaᵑǁˀa] {{=}} [ɬaʖ̃ˀa]}}||'a split, fork'||
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]] || {{lang|xh|isi'''Xh'''osa}} || align="center" | {{IPA|[isiᵏǁʰosa] {{=}} [isiʖ̥ʰosa]}}|| 'Xhosa language'|| Contrasts tenuis, [[breathy voice|murmured]],  [[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]], and [[nasal click|nasal]] lateral clicks.
|-
| colspan="2" | [[!Xóõ language|!Xóõ]] || {{lang|nmn|'''ǁn'''áã}} || align="center" | {{IPA|[ᵑǁɑ́ɑ̃] {{=}} [ʖ̃ɑ́ɑ̃]}}|| '[[grewia]] berry' ||
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Zulu language|Zulu]] || {{lang|zu|'''x'''o'''x'''a}} || align="center" | {{IPA|[ᵏǁɔ́ːᵏǁa] {{=}} [ʖ̥ɔ́ːʖ̥a]}}|| 'to converse' ||
|}

== See also ==
* [[Fricated palatal click]] (described as having a lateral release)
* [[Retroflex click]] (has a fricated lateral release)

== References ==
{{reflist}}
*{{cite book |last=Pullum |first=Geoffrey K. |author-link=Geoffrey K. Pullum |author2=Ladusaw, William A.  |year=1996 |title=[[Phonetic Symbol Guide]] |publisher=University of Chicago Press |pages=178}}

==External links==
* {{phoible|ǁ}}

{{IPA navigation}}

[[Category:Alveolar consonants]]
[[Category:Click consonants]]
[[Category:Lateral consonants]]