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17 Non-Pulmonic Consonants

All the consonants we’ve looked at up till now have been made with airflow from the lungs as we exhale, either with just air or with sound generated by the vocal folds before it’s shaped through the vocal tract. We call those consonants pulmonic consonants because the expelled air comes from the lungs. They are egressive because the air is flowing outwards, exiting the body. Non-pulmonic consonants use a different process to generate their sounds.

Clicks

Clicks are egressive consonants, but they’re made solely in the mouth. Sometimes they’re classified as velaric consonants, as the back of the tongue and soft palate, or velum, make a closure, allowing the speaker to trap air within the oral cavity by closing off at any of the spots available in front of that closure: bilabial (both lips), dental (tongue tip and teeth), (post)alveolar (tongue blade and gum ridge and hard palate), palatoalveolar (middle of the tongue and the hard palate), and alveolar lateral (the side of the tongue and the inside of the left or right upper teeth). The tongue then pulls down and back, sometimes with the help of the jaw, while keeping the closure. This makes the oral cavity larger and “rarifies the air” (same number of molecules in a bigger space). When the closure it abruptly released, a gentle “pop” sound is heard.

Bilabial [ʘ] (smooch or lip smacking)

Dental [ǀ] (tsk!)

(Post)alveolar [ǃ] (clip clop, with slight tongue curl)

Palatoalveolar [ǂ] (loud click, tongue flat on roof of mouth)

Alveolar lateral [ǁ] (tchick!, giddyup sound, sideways)

Because the closure happens in front of the nasovelar port, where your soft palate opens into your nasal passages, it’s possible to breathe through your nose while making click sounds, or to make voiced, murmured or nasalized sounds simultaneously. There are three ways to indicate how the click is made with coarticulations (in this example, I use the palatoalveolar click [!]). The first way with a consonant symbol before the click, connected with a tiebar, either above or below; the second way is with a superscript consonant symbol before the click; and the third way is with an ipa diacritic mark, which may be above, below or as a superscript after the click’s symbol. In each click’s example words from languages below, you’ll see the second style of transcription used.

voiceless click k͜! k! !
aspirated click k͜!ʰ k͜!ʰ !ʰ
voiced click ɡ͡! ɡ! !̬
nasal click ŋ͡! ŋ! !̃
glottalized nasal click ŋ͡!ʔ ŋ!ʔ !̃ʔ

In my experience, only actors who will go on to play characters who speak the languages in words that require these clicks, often in character and place names in a script that is primarily in English, really need to master these coarticulations.

Bilabial Click: Bull’s Eye [ʘ]

This can be heard here:

Symbol Name Notes
[ʘ] Bull’s Eye Draw either a circle or a large uppercase O. Then put a dot in the centre of the circle, as if you’re drawing a bull’s eye on a target. If you make the Bilabial Click with your lips rounded, this symbol looks a bit like your lip shape when you make a kiss sound. If you make the bilabial click with your lips unrounded, and the corners of your lips spread, as many speakers who use this sound in their actual language do, then the symbol is less memorable. The bilabial click is used in languages of southern Africa and in the ritual language Damin of Australia.
The Sound & the Action: With the velum closed off by connection with the back of the tongue, and the lips sealed, either with lips in a “kiss” shape with lip corners advanced, or just compressed, and the lip corners in their normal, relaxed position, the jaw and tongue pull downward in the mouth until the seal on the lips is broken, making the click sound. The cheeks make “suck in” as you do this. 

View an MRI of [ʘ] [1]
Linguistic Term: Bilabial Click.
Examples (from Wikipedia): 

ǂʼAmkoe (ǂHoan) — ʘoa “two”

Damin mǃi — [ᵑʘi] = [ʘ̃i] “vegetable”

Taa (ǃXóõ) — ʘàa “child”

Nǁng (Nǀuu) — ʘũu “son”

Dental Click: Pipe [ǀ]

This can be heard here:

Symbol Name Notes
[ǀ] Pipe The Pipe symbol, a single vertical bar, ǀ, looks very similar to lowercase L <l> or a sans serif uppercase I. As the ipa uses it, the pipe symbol is used for the Dental Click sound, and is as tall as uppercase symbols, and stops at the baseline. The Dental click is often used para-linguistically, as a sign of dislike or disapproval, but also as commiseration, and is frequently written in English as tsk-tsk, tut-tut. In Semitic languages it can be used to say “no.” In languages that use it (such as Zulu and !Xhosa), it is frequently coarticulated with voiced, murmured or nasal sounds. Note that the “minor foot group” symbol [|] for denoting minor breaks in prosody looks a lot like it, but is longer, as it goes below the baseline to the descender point.
The Sound & the Action: With the velum closed off by connection with the back of the tongue, and the apex or front edge of the tongue sealing off the oral cavity on the back of the upper front teeth, the tongue pulls back in the mouth until the seal is broken and the tongue’s connection to the teeth pops off. 

View an MRI of [ǀ] [2]
Linguistic Term: Dental Click.
Examples (from Wikipedia): 

Zulu icici [iːᵏǀíːᵏǀi]  “earring”

Hadza cinambo [ᵏǀinambo]  “firefly”

Khoekhoe ǀgurub [ᵏǀȕɾȕp]  “dry autumn leaves”

(Post)Alveolar Click: Exclamation Point [!]

This can be heard here:

Symbol Name Notes
[!] Exclamation Point This one is very simple: it’s an exclamation point! Draw a vertical line, stopping just above the baseline and then put a dot beneath the vertical stroke, on the baseline. It can be coarticulated with voice sound, nasal, murmured sound, etc. This Click is used in African languages and the Damin ritual language of Australia.
The Sound & the Action: With the velum closed off by connection with the back of the tongue, and the front edge of the tongue on the alveolar ridge, the tongue pulls downward in the mouth, creating a “rarified” air space, which makes the click sound quite loud. Alternatively, the tongue can be in the postalveolar space, just behind the gum ridge, with the tongue slightly curled. The tongue in some cases, such as in the Sandawe language, makes a second sound as it hit the bottom of the mouth, as frequently happens in the clip-clop sound used paralinguistically to imitate the sound of horses’ hooves.

View an MRI of [!] [3]
Linguistic Term: (Post)Alveolar Click.
Examples (from Wikipedia): 

Kung nǃan [ᵑǃáŋ]  “inside”

Sandawe gqokomi [ᶢǃokomi]  “greater kudu”

Sotho ho qoqa [hoᵏǃɔᵏǃɑ] “to chat/converse”

Xhosa iqanda [iᵏǃanda]  “egg”

ǃXóõ ǃqhàà [ǃ͡qʰɑ̀ː]  “water”

Zulu iqaqa [iːᵏǃáːᵏǃa]  “polecat”

Palataoalveolar Click: Double-Barred Pipe [ǂ]

This can be heard here:

Symbol Name Notes
[ǂ] Double-Barred Pipe Draw a Pipe, then cross the vertical bar twice: like crossing a <t>, and then crossing it again. The Palatoalveolar Click can be coarticulated with voice sound, nasal, murmured sound, etc. The sound is used in languages of Africa, specifically in Bantu languages such as Yeyi, and in the Khoe, Kx’a and Tuu families of the Khosian languages.
The Sound & the Action: With the velum closed off by connection with the back of the tongue, and the front edge of the tongue on the alveolar ridge and the tongue wide and flat sealing on the hard palate, the tongue pulls downward in the mouth, creating a “rarified” air space, which makes the click sound very loud. 

View an MRI of [ǂ] [4]
Linguistic Term: Palatoalveolar Click.
Examples (from Wikipedia): 

Khoekhoe ǂKhoesaob [ᵏǂ͡χòe̯̋sàȍ̯p]  “July”

Taa ǂnûm [ᵑǂûm]  “two”

ǂHaba ǂHaba [ᵏǂʰabá] (endonym, the name of the language)

Naro tcháó-kg’am [ᵏǂʰáó̯kχʼam]  “to be disappointed”

Yeyi — [kuᵏǂapara]  “to smash up”

Alveolar Lateral Click: Double Pipe [ǁ]

This can be heard here:

Symbol Name Notes
[ǁ] Double Pipe Draw two Pipe symbols (vertical bars) very close together. As the single Pipe os for the Dental Click, the double click is for the Alveolar Lateral Click, with the edge of the tongue connecting with the inside of one side of the upper teeth. This click is frequently used twice-in-a-row with horses to say “giddy-up.” The sound is heard in Zulu in South Africa, and in other languages in Tanzania and Namibia. Note that there is also the “major foot group” ipa symbol [‖] which looks extremely similar, but it’s longer as the vertical bars go down to the descender point.
The Sound & the Action: With the velum closed off by connection with the back of the tongue, and the side of the tongue sealed against the inside of the left or right upper teeth, the jaw and tongue pull downward in the mouth. The cheeks make “suck in” as you do this.

View an MRI of [ǁ] [5]
Linguistic Term: Alveolar Lateral Click.
Examples (from Wikipedia): 

ǃKung nǁan [ᵑǁàŋ] “marama bean”

Hadza exekeke [ʔeᵏǁekeke] “to listen”

Xhosa isiXhosa [isiᵏǁʰosa] “Xhosa language”

!Xóõ ǁnáã [ᵑǁɑ́ɑ̃] “grewia berry”

Zulu xoxa [ᵏǁɔ́ːᵏǁa] “to converse”

The Voiced Implosive consonants are said with the airflow moving inward, they are ingressive consonants. Try making an ingressive vowel sound on the strut vowel, for example [ʌ], and notice how that works as the vocal folds vibrate as you are breathing in. Voice implosive consonants are made with the vocal folds closed and a closure in the mouth; then the larynx is pulled downward in the throat, drawing air inward on the release at the articulation point in the mouth. People frequently can imitate a drinking “glug glug” sound as a way to learn a voiced implosive, and then apply that to all the other ones. Implosives are all marked with a right hooktop added to a symbol, so an implosive /b/ is [ɓ].

Bilabial ɓ

Dental/alveolar ɗ

Palatal ʄ

Velar ɠ

Uvular ʛ

Voiced Bilabial Implosive: Hooktop B [ɓ]

This can be heard here:

Symbol Name Notes
[ɓ] Hooktop Lowercase B The first stroke of the Hooktop Lowercase B [ɓ] is the same as the first stroke of a Lowercase F <f>. The second stroke adds the “bowl” of the <b> onto the stem of the first stroke, essentially a <ɔ> shape. It represents the Voiced Bilabial Implosive, which is used languages in Africa, Central and South America, India and Pakistan, and Asia. It is used as an allophone of /b/ and /p/ in some languages, including (reportedly) in some Southern US English for word initial /b/.
The Sound & the Action: With the soft palate raised, making it an oral consoannt, and the vocal folds vibrating, the lips are closed as they would be for [b]. The larynx is pulled downward by the extrinsic muscles (the sternohyoids, and the sternothyroids), reducing the air pressure in the vocal tract, so that, when the lips are released, air moves inward and a sort of /b/-like “gulping” sound is made.

View an MRI of [ɓ] [6]
Linguistic Term: Voiced Bilabial Implosive.
Examples (from Wikipedia): 

English Southern American body [ɓʌdi] “body”

Jamaican Patois beat [ɓiːt] “beat”

Hausa ɓaɓewa [ɓaɓɛua] “quarreling”

Khmer បារាំង/barăng [ɓaːraŋ] noun: “France/French”

Yucatec Mayan balam [ɓalam] “jaguar”

Sindhi ٻر [ɓaˑrʊ] “child”

Zulu ubaba [úˈɓàːɓá] “my father”

Voiced Dental/Alveolar Implosive: Hooktop D [ɗ]

This can be heard here:

Symbol Name Notes
[ɗ] Hooktop Lowercase D To make the Hooktop Lowercase D [ɗ] start as if writing a regular lowercase <d>, with the bowl. The second stroke adds the hooktop stem, which is like the first stroke of a lowercase <f>. It represents the Voiced Dental or Alveolar Implosive.
The Sound & the Action: With the soft palate raised and the vocal folds vibrating, the front edge of the tongue closes off the oral space on the gum ridge (alveolar) or the back of the teeth (dental), as they would be for [d] or [d̪]. The larynx is simultaneously pulled downward, causing the air pressure in the vocal tract to drop, so that, when the closure on the gum ridge/teeth is released, a sort of /d/-like “gulping” sound is made. The sound is used in languages in Africa, Asia, South Asia, and South America. 

View an MRI of [ɗ] [7]
Linguistic Term: Voiced Dental/Alveolar Implosive.
Examples (from Wikipedia): 

Jamaican Patois dem [ɗem] “them”

Hausa ɗaiɗai/طَـیْـطَـیْ [ɗei̯ɗei̯] “one at a time”

Khmer ដប់/dáb [ɗɑp] “ten”

Konso bad [ɓaɗ] “to hide”

Kwaza deda [ɗe’ɗa] “snake”

Shona kudada [kuɗaɗa] “prideful and pompous”

Vietnamese đuôi [ɗuəj] “tail”

Voiced Palatal Implosive: Hooktop Turned F [ʄ]

This can be heard here:

Symbol Name Notes
[ʄ] Hooktop Turned F The first stroke of the Hooktop Lowercase F [ʄ] is the same as Esh <ʃ>, though the tail doesn’t go quite as low, and doesn’t curl quite as much. The second stroke is a bar, drawn on the baseline (remember it’s an upside-down <f>, with the right hooktop). It represents the Voiced Palatal Implosive. The sound is used in West and East Africa, and in Pakistan.
The Sound & the Action: With the soft palate raised and the vocal folds vibrating, the centre of the tongue closes off the oral space on the hard palate (palatal), as it would be for [ɟ]. The larynx is simultaneously pulled downward, casuing the air pressure in the vocal tract to drop, so that, when the closure on the palate is released, air rushes inward to make a sort of /ɟ/-like “gulping” sound. 

View an MRI of [ʄ] [8]
Linguistic Term: Voiced Palatal Implosive.
Examples (from Wikipedia): 

Fula — [ʄetugol] “to take”

Konso  — [ʄapʄap] “to rot/decay completely”

Swahili jana [ʄana] “yesterday”

Sindhi ڄِڀَ [ʄɪbʱə] “tongue”

Tunni  — [ʄoːɡ] “to stay”

Voiced Velar Implosive: Hooktop G [ɠ]

This can be heard here:

Symbol Name Notes
[ɠ] Hooktop Lowercase G The first stroke of the Hooktop Lowercase G [ɠ] is the bowl of the lowercase <g>. The second stroke adds the <ʃ>-like stem, starting with the right hook up top, then, once you reach the baseline, continuing on with the descender, which hooks to the left. It represents the Voiced Velar Implosive, which is heard in languages of East, West, and South Africa, Jamaica, and Pakistan.
The Sound & the Action: With the soft palate raised and the vocal folds vibrating, the back of the tongue closes off the oral space on the soft palate (velar) as it would be for [g]. The larynx is simultaneously pulled downward, causing the air pressure in the vocal tract to drop, so that, when the closure on the velum is released, a sort of /g/-like “gulping” sound is made. This sound is used to imitate drinking, aka “glug-glug.” In some languages it is used as an allophone of /k, g, q/.

View an MRI of [ɠ] [9]
Linguistic Term: Voiced Bilabial Implosive.
Examples (from Wikipedia): 

Jamaican Patois good [ɠuːd] “good”

Af Maay qalang [ɠalaŋ] “pen”

Ega — [ɠà] “count”

Sindhi ڳَـئُون/g̈aun [ɠəuːn] “cow”

Tera qaandi [ɠaːndi] “hello”

Zulu ukuza [uˈɠuːza] “to come”

Voiced Uvular Implosive: Hooktop Small Cap G [ʛ]

This can be heard here:

 

Symbol Name Notes
[ʛ] Hooktop Small Cap G The first part of drawing the Hooktop Small Cap G [ʛ] is the same as the Small Cap G: draw a tiny uppercase G! The second stroke adds the right hook onto the top right, where you started, as if you were beginning to draw a lowercase <f>. It represents the Voiced Uvular Implosive, which is an exceedingly rare consonant, used in the Konso language in Ethiopia.
The Sound & the Action: With the soft palate raised and the vocal folds vibrating, the back of the tongue closes off the oral space on the uvula (uvular), as it would be for [ɢ]. The larynx is simultaneously pulled downward, causing the air pressure in the vocal tract to drop, so that, when the closure on the gum ridge/teeth is released, air is drawn inward to make a sort of /ɢ/-like “gulping” sound. 

View an MRI of [ʛ] [10]
Linguistic Term: Voiced Uvular Implosive.
Examples (from Wikipedia): 

Konso pogoota [poʛoːta] “mandible”

Ejectives

The Ejective consonants are also “glottalic,” like the Voiced Implosives, except that the closed glottis of the larynx is pulled up rather than pushed down. This compresses the air between the larynx and the point of articulation, allowing the speaker to “spit out” a voiceless plosive without breathing out. The symbol for an ejective is a simple apostrophe, as in stop [stɒp’]. I will note that the apostrophe [ʼ] should look different from the primary stress mark [ ˈ ]. It should look like a tiny 9, or a comma that starts at the ascender line.

One phonetics book, Speech Sounds by Helen Ashby, suggests breathing out all the air in your lungs, and then trying to say [p t k p t k p t k], which is likely to force you to pronounce them as ejectives. For those who have tried beatboxing, you’ll be familiar with ejectives: the classic technique of saying “boots and cats” while holding your breath as an introduction to creating a beat is essentially repeating [p̜̜w’ t̪’ k’ t̪’], usually with lip rounding on the [pwʼ] bilabial ejective to imitate the bass drum, a dental articulation of the alveolar one [t̪’], which gives it a more /ts/ quality in order to imitate a closed hi-hat cymbal, while the velar ejective [k’] stands in for a dry sounding rimshot on the snare.

While the other non-pulmonic consonant sounds are typically not used in English other than as paralinguistic sounds, like the “giddy-up” sound of a pair of alveolar lateral clicks, [ǁ ǁ], or the “glug glug” of [ɠʌ ɠʌ ɠʌ ɠʌ ɠʌ] on a rising pitch, Ejectives are frequently used to quietly “check off” a plosive consonant at the end of an utterance. This usage is more common in the UK than in North America, but voiceover artists frequently use it to emphasize a final [p, t, k] at the end of a sentence or phrase. Because the vocal folds are closed, they cannot vibrate, so all Ejectives are voiceless. It is possible to make fricatives as ejectives, such as hiss [hɪsʼ], though it’s important to make sure you’re not actually making a small pulmonic exhalation when practicing them.

As ejectives are merely a symbol plus an apostrophe, and they are all made in the same manner, we won’t create separate instructions for all of them. The primary Ejectives used as examples by the International Phonetic Association are the following 5:

Bilabial pʼ

Dental/alveolar tʼ

Palatal ɟʼ

Velar kʼ

Alveolar Fricative sʼ

However, Wikipedia provides pages for 24 different stops, fricatives, affricates, and laterals, with examples of occurrence from around the world.

Stops:

Bilabial Ejective Stop [pʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Alveolar Ejective Stop [tʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Retroflex Ejective Stop [ʈʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Palatal Ejective Stop [cʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Velar Ejective Stop [kʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Uvular Ejective Stop [qʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Epiglottal Ejective Stop [ʡʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Fricatives:

Labiodental Ejective Fricative [fʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Dental Ejective Fricative [θʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Alveolar Ejective Fricative [sʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Postalveolar Ejective Fricative [ʃʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Retroflex Ejective Fricative [ʂʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Alveolopalatal Ejective Fricative [ɕʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Velar Ejective Fricative [xʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Uvular Ejective Fricative [χʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Affricates:

Alveolar Ejective Affricate [tsʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Postalveolar Ejective Affricate [t̠ʃʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Retroflex Ejective Affricate [ʈʂʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Velar Ejective Affricate [kxʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Uvular Ejective Affricate [qχʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Laterals:

Alveolar Ejective Lateral [ɬʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Lateral Affricates:

Alveolar Lateral Ejective Affricate [tɬʼ]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Palatal Lateral Ejective Affricate [cʎ̝̊]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Velar Lateral Ejective Affricate [kʟ̝̊]: Examples (Wikipedia)

Ejective Practice 1

Speak these words with final ejective stops.

  1. hat
  2. cap
  3. rock
  4. patch
  5. edge*
  6. flick
  7. cob*
  8. crap
  9. not
  10. break

*These voiced consonants must be voiceless when said as ejectives. Note that their vowels are longer than what you’d have in the equivalent voiceless versions, etch and cop.

Ejective Practice 2

Speak these short phrases with an ejective for the underlined consonants.

  1. It’s four o’clock.
  2. That’s what you get.
  3. I’m not going to stop.
  4. She’s such a bad bitch.
  5. Right on the tip of my fork.
  6. Shut – the fuck – up!
  7. I can’t believe I’m not right.
  8. Andrew Scott is truly great. Adam Scott is not quite as great.
  1. MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiceless bilabial click. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=2&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=664 ↵
  2. MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiceless dental click. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=2&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=448 ↵
  3. MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiceless postalveolar click. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=2&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=451 ↵
  4. MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiceless palato-alveolar click. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=2&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=450 ↵
  5. MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiceless alveolar lateral click. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=2&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=449 ↵
  6. MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiced bilabial implosive. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=2&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=595 ↵
  7. MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiced alveolar implosive. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=2&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=599 ↵
  8. MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiced palatal implosive. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=2&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=644 ↵
  9. MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiced velar implosive. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=2&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=608 ↵
  10. MRI 2. Janet Beck. Voiced uvular implosive. Seeing Speech. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, 2018. Web. 21 August 2024. https://seeingspeech.ac.uk/ipa-charts/?chart=2&datatype=4&speaker=1#location=667 ↵

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Introducing the IPA Copyright © by Eric Armstrong. All Rights Reserved.

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