Uvular lateral ejective affricate
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Consonantal sound
| Uvular lateral ejective affricate | |
|---|---|
| q𝼄̠ʼ | |
| qʟ̝̊ʼ |
A uvular lateral ejective affricate is a rare type of consonantal sound, used allophonically in some spoken languages.
Features of a uvular lateral ejective affricate:
- Its manner of articulation is affricate, which means it is produced by first stopping the airflow entirely, then allowing air flow through a constricted channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
- Its place of articulation is uvular, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the uvula.
- Its phonation is un-voiced, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords.
- It is an oral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
- It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream over the sides of the tongue, rather than down the middle.
- The airstream mechanism is ejective (glottalic egressive), which means the air is forced out by pumping the glottis upward.
Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ǂʼAmkoe | [ǂq𝼄̠ʼāú] | 'dark' | Occurs in apparently free variation with the uvular ejective affricate [qχʼ], both as a single consonant and as the release of contour clicks and other obstruents, which in some analyses are considered consonant clusters.[1] | |
| Gǀui | [q᫈ʟ̝̊ʼáà] | 'drink' | Occurs as a single consonant. This lateral affricate is more front than the central affricate release of the consonants /tqχ’/, /tsqχ’/ and analogous clicks, but it behaves as a uvular in that it cannot precede a non-back vowel.[2] | |
