Editing Click consonant (section)

==Transcription==
{{Further|click letter}}
The five click places of articulation with dedicated symbols in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA) are [[labial click|labial]] {{IPA|ʘ}}, [[dental click|dental]] {{IPA|ǀ}}, [[palatal click|palatal]] ("palato-alveolar") {{IPA|ǂ}}, [[postalveolar click|(post)alveolar]] ("retroflex") {{IPA|ǃ}} and [[lateral click|lateral]] {{IPA|ǁ}}. In most languages, the alveolar and palatal types are abrupt; that is, they are sharp popping sounds with little frication (turbulent airflow). The labial, dental and lateral types, on the other hand, are typically noisy: they are longer, lip- or tooth-sucking sounds with turbulent airflow, and are sometimes called affricates. (This applies to the forward articulation; both may also have either an affricate or non-affricate rear articulation as well.) The [[apical consonant|apical]] places, {{IPA|ǃ}} and {{IPA|ǁ}}, are sometimes called "grave", because their pitch is dominated by low frequencies; whereas the [[laminal consonant|laminal]] places, {{IPA|ǀ}} and {{IPA|ǂ}}, are sometimes called "acute", because they are dominated by high frequencies. (At least in the [[Nǁng language]] and [[Juǀʼhoan language|Juǀʼhoan]], this is associated with a difference in the placement of the rear articulation: "grave" clicks are [[uvular consonant|uvular]], whereas "acute" clicks are [[pharyngeal consonant|pharyngeal]].) Thus the alveolar click {{IPA|/ǃ/}} sounds something like a cork pulled from a bottle (a low-pitch pop), at least in Xhosa; whereas the dental click {{IPA|/ǀ/}} is like English ''tsk! tsk!,'' a high-pitched sucking on the incisors. The lateral clicks are pronounced by sucking on the molars of one or both sides. The labial click {{IPA|/ʘ/}} is different from what many people associate with a kiss: the lips are pressed more-or-less flat together, as they are for a {{IPA|[p]}} or an {{IPA|[m]}}, not rounded as they are for a {{IPA|[w]}}.

The most populous languages with clicks, Zulu and Xhosa, use the letters ''c, q, x,'' by themselves and in [[digraph (orthography)|digraphs]], to write click consonants. Most Khoisan languages, on the other hand (with the notable exceptions of [[Naro language|Naro]] and [[Sandawe language|Sandawe]]), use a more iconic system based on the [[Vertical bar|pipe]] {{angbr|<nowiki>|</nowiki>}}. (The exclamation point for the "retroflex" click was originally a pipe with a subscript dot, along the lines of ''ṭ, ḍ, ṇ'' used to transcribe the retroflex consonants of India.) There are also two main conventions for the second letter of the digraph as well: voicing may be written with ''g'' and uvular affrication with ''x'', or voicing with ''d'' and affrication with ''g'' (a convention of Afrikaans). In two orthographies of Juǀʼhoan, for example, voiced {{IPA|/ᶢǃ/}} is written ''g!'' or ''dq'', and {{IPA|/ᵏǃ͡χ/}} ''!x'' or ''qg''. In languages without {{IPA|/ᵏǃ͡χ/}}, such as Zulu, {{IPA|/ᶢǃ/}} may be written ''gq''.

{| class=wikitable
|+ Competing orthographies
!rowspan=2| !!rowspan=2|labial!!colspan=2|laminal!!colspan=2|apical !!subapical
|-
!dental!!palatal!!alveolar!!lateral!!retroflex
|- align=center
! Lepsius (1855)
| ||{{IPA|ǀ}}||{{IPA|ǀ́ }}||{{IPA|ǀ̣ }}||{{IPA|ǀǀ}}||
|- align=center
! IPA (1921)
| ||rowspan=3| {{IPA|ʇ}}||{{IPA|ʞ}}{{ref|doke|a}}||rowspan=3| {{IPA|ʗ}}||rowspan=3| {{IPA|ʖ}}||
|- align=center
! Doke (1926)
| ||🡣 ||{{IPA|ψ}}
|- align=center
! Beach (1938)
|{{IPA|ʘ}}||{{IPA|𝼋}}||
|- align=center
! Bantuist
| ''{{IPA|pc}}'' ||{{IPA|c}}|| ''{{IPA|v ç tc<br />qc}}'' {{ref|pal|b}} ||{{IPA|q}}||{{IPA|x}}||
|- align=center
! IPA (1989)
|{{IPA|ʘ}}||{{IPA|ǀ}}||{{IPA|ǂ}}||{{IPA|ǃ}}||{{IPA|ǁ}}||{{IPA|𝼊}}
|}
# {{note|doke|a}} {{angbr IPA|ʞ}} was proposed as the IPA letter for a palatal click by [[Daniel Jones (phonetician)|Daniel Jones]], but in his writing he called it 'velar', which was evidently misunderstood by other phoneticians. A replacement of {{angbr|🡣}} was proposed by [[Clement Martyn Doke|Clement Doke]],<ref>Clement M Doke, 1926 (1969), ''The phonetics of the Zulu language''. Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand Press</ref> and of {{angbr IPA|𝼋}} by [[Douglas Martyn Beach|Beach]].<ref>Douglas Martyn Beach, 1938, ''The phonetics of the Hottentot language''. W. Heffer & sons. ltd.</ref> (The former is not supported by Unicode, and is here substituted with an arrow.) Doke and Beach used [[click letters|additional or modified letters]] for voiced and nasal clicks, but these did not catch on.
# {{note|pal|b}} The labial and palatal clicks do not occur in written Bantu languages. However, the palatal clicks have been romanised in Naron, [[Juǀʼhoan language|Juǀʼhõasi]] and !Xun,{{which|date=December 2012}} where they have been written {{angbr|tc}}, {{angbr|ç}} and {{angbr|qc}}, respectively. In the 19th century, they were sometimes written {{angbr|v}}, which might be source of the Doke letter {{angbr|🡣}}.

There are a few less-well-attested articulations. <!--Note: the 2nd lateral click in Mangetti Dune could not be reproduced, and the authors have retracted their claim (vd. Miller & Shah 2009). Former text: ''such as a noisy laminal denti-alveolar lateral articulation ({{angbr IPA|⦀}} in an ''ad hoc'' transcription), which contrasts with an apical postalveolar lateral in Mangetti Dune !Kung;''--> A reported subapical retroflex articulation {{angbr IPA|𝼊}} in Grootfontein !Kung<ref group=note>{{angbr|⦀}} (a triple pipe) in Doke (1954) and Cole (1966) is an ''ad hoc'' phonetic pipe letter for Doke's orthographic click letter {{angbr|ψ}}.</ref> turns out to be alveolar with lateral release, {{angbr IPA|ǃ𐞷}}; Ekoka !Kung has a fricated alveolar click with an s-like release, provisionally transcribed {{angbr IPA|ǃ͡s}}; and Sandawe has a "slapped" alveolar click, provisionally transcribed {{angbr IPA|ǃ¡}} (in turn, the lateral clicks in Sandawe are more abrupt and less noisy than in southern Africa). However, the Khoisan languages are poorly attested, and it is quite possible that, as they become better described, more click articulations will be found.

Formerly when a click consonant was transcribed, two symbols were used, one for each articulation, and connected with a tie bar. This is because a click such as {{IPA|[ɢ͡ǀ]}} was analysed as a voiced uvular rear articulation {{IPA|[ɢ]}} pronounced simultaneously with the forward ingressive release {{IPA|[ǀ]}}. The symbols may be written in either order, depending on the analysis: {{angbr IPA|ɢ͡ǀ}} or {{angbr IPA|ǀ͡ɢ}}. However, a tie bar was not often used in practice, and when the manner is [[tenuis consonant|tenuis]] (a simple {{IPA|[k]}}), it was often omitted as well. That is, {{angbr IPA|ǂ}} = {{angbr IPA|kǂ}} = {{angbr IPA|ǂk}} = {{angbr IPA|k͡ǂ}} = {{angbr IPA|ǂ͡k}}. Regardless, elements that do not overlap with the forward release are usually written according to their temporal order: Prenasalisation is always written first ({{angbr IPA|ɴɢ͡ǀ}} = {{angbr IPA|ɴǀ͡ɢ}} = {{angbr IPA|ɴǀ̬}}), and the non-lingual part of a contour is always written second ({{angbr IPA|k͡ǀʼqʼ}} = {{angbr IPA|ǀ͡kʼqʼ}} = {{angbr IPA|ǀ͡qʼ}}).

However, it is common to analyse clicks as simplex segments, despite the fact that the front and rear articulations are independent, and to use diacritics to indicate the rear articulation and the accompaniment. At first this tended to be {{angbr IPA|ᵏǀ, ᶢǀ, ᵑǀ}} for {{angbr IPA|k͡ǀ, ɡ͡ǀ, ŋ͡ǀ}}, based on the belief that the rear articulation was velar; but as it has become clear that the rear articulation is often uvular or even pharyngeal even when there is no velar–uvular contrast, voicing and nasalisation diacritics more in keeping with the IPA have started to appear: {{angbr IPA|ǀ̥, ǀ̬, ǀ̃, ŋǀ̬}} for {{angbr IPA|ᵏǀ, ᶢǀ, ᵑǀ, ŋᶢǀ}}.

{| class="wikitable"
|+Variation in the transcription of accompaniments
|-
! !! Tenuis !! Aspirated !! Voiced !! Nasal !! Delayed ("uvular") !! True uvular
|-
! rowspan=2|Tie bars
| {{IPA|k͡ǀ}} || {{IPA|k͡ǀʰ}} || {{IPA|ɡ͡ǀ}} || {{IPA|ŋ͡ǀ}} || {{IPA|ǀ͡k, ǀ͡kʰ, ǀ͡ɡ, ǀ͡ŋ}} || {{IPA|q͡ǀ, ǀ͡q}} etc.
|-
| {{IPA|k͜ǀ}} || {{IPA|k͜ǀʰ}} || {{IPA|ɡ͜ǀ}} || {{IPA|ŋ͜ǀ}} || {{IPA|ǀ͜k, ǀ͜kʰ, ǀ͜ɡ, ǀ͜ŋ}} || {{IPA|q͜ǀ, ǀ͜q}} etc.
|-
! Digraphs
| {{IPA|kǀ}} || {{IPA|kǀʰ}} || {{IPA|ɡǀ}} || {{IPA|ŋǀ}} || {{IPA|ǀk, ǀkʰ, ǀɡ, ǀŋ}} || {{IPA|qǀ, ǀq}} etc.
|-
! Superscripts
| {{IPA|ᵏǀ}} || {{IPA|ᵏǀʰ}} || {{IPA|ᶢǀ}} || {{IPA|ᵑǀ}} || {{IPA|ǀᵏ, ǀᵏʰ, ǀᶢ, ǀᵑ}} || {{IPA|𐞥ǀ, ǀ𐞥}} etc.
|-
! Diacritics
| {{IPA|ǀ̥}} || {{IPA|ǀʰ}} || {{IPA|ǀ̬}} || {{IPA|ǀ̬̃}} || NA || NA
|}

In practical orthography, the voicing or nasalisation is sometimes given the anterior place of articulation: ''dc'' for {{IPA|ᶢǀ}} and ''mʘ'' for {{IPA|ᵑʘ}}, for example.

In the literature on Damin, the clicks are transcribed by adding {{angbr|!}} to the homorganic nasal: {{angbr|m!, nh!, n!, rn!}}.