Retroflex click
The retroflex clicks are a family of click consonants known only from the Central !Kung dialects of Namibia and the Damin ritual jargon of Australia. They may be sub-apical retroflex and should not be confused with the more widespread postalveolar clicks, which are sometimes called retroflex.
There is no official symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the forward articulation of these sounds, and the expected symbol is rarely seen. In the literature they are typically written with the ad hoc digraph, the convention since Doke identified them as retroflex in 1926.
Basic retroflex clicks are:Features
Features of postalveolar clicks:
As with other click articulations, retroflex clicks may be produced with various manners. An example is the voiced retroflex click in the Grootfontein !Kung word for 'water', .
Damin is the only other language known to have had such a sound, though only the nasal click occurred.
A retroflex series claimed for Ekoka !Kung turns out to be domed palatal clicks.
