Nasal bilabial click


A bilabial nasal click is a click consonant found in some of the languages of southern Africa.
The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet for a nasal bilabial click with a velar rear articulation is or, commonly abbreviated to, or. For a click with a uvular rear articulation, the equivalents are.
Sometimes the accompanying letter comes after the click letter, e.g. or ; this may be a simple orthographic choice, or it may imply a difference in the relative timing of the releases.

Features

Features of a bilabial nasal click:

Occurrence

Bilabial nasal clicks only occur in the Tuu and Kxʼa families of southern Africa, in the Australian ritual language Damin, and for /mw/ in some of the languages neighboring Shona, such as at least for some speakers of Ndau and Tonga.
LanguageWordIPAMeaning
Daminm!ii'vegetable'
Tongakum'wa'to drink'
Ndaumwana'child'
Nǀuumʘ'ôa'cat'

Glottalized bilabial nasal click

The Tuu and Kxʼa languages also have glottalized nasal clicks. These are formed by closing the glottis so that the click is pronounced in silence; however, any preceding vowel will be nasalized.
LanguageWordIPAMeaning
Nǀuuʘʼuiʼi'to be sick'