ǃ

Percussive release

In Sandawe, alveolar clicks commonly have a ballistic release, with the underside of the tip of the tongue subsequently striking the floor of the mouth. This allophone has been called "slapped" or "flapped" (not to be confused with flap consonants, such as the reduced alveolar clicks of Hadza). Sometimes the percussive slap is louder than the release, resulting in a sound that has been characterized as a "cluck". The symbol for the sublingual percussive component is ⟨¡⟩ in the extensions to the IPA; a slapped click is therefore transcribed ⟨ǃ͡¡⟩ or ⟨ǃꜞ⟩ (or ⟨ʗ͡¡,ʗꜞ⟩). The percussive allophones of the five Sandawe alveolar clicks are [ᵏǃ͡¡,ᵏǃ͡¡ʰ,ᶢǃ͡¡,ᵑǃ͡¡,ᵑǃ͡¡ˀ] (or [ᵏʗꜞᵏʗꜞʰᶢʗꜞᵑʗꜞᵑʗꜞˀ] etc.).