Uvular ejective affricate

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Uvular ejective affricate
qχʼ
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The uvular ejective affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is q͡χʼ. It is a phoneme in some Indigenous languages of the Americas such as Wintu. It was also a phoneme in the original version of the constructed language Ithkuil and is used allophonically in several Northeast Caucasian languages.

Features[edit]

Features of the uvular ejective affricate:

  • Its manner of articulation is affricate, which means it is produced by first stopping the airflow entirely, then allowing air flow through a constricted channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
  • Its place of articulation is uvular, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the uvula.
  • Its phonation is voiceless, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords.
  • It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
  • It is a central consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream along the center of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
  • The airstream mechanism is ejective (glottalic egressive), which means the air is forced out by pumping the glottis upward.

Occurrence[edit]

See also[edit]