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We can all make click sounds with our mouths but did you know they can be consonants in a word? Clicks are found in many African languages. Persian, Greek, Maltese, Turkic and Levantine Arabic and Sicilian speakers say "no" by using a dental click with an upwards motion of the head. |
Labial click This sound sounds like a smack of the lips but with compressed lips, not pursed lips. It is not a very common click sound. Dental click This is the tut tut sound (or tsk tsk sound) of English. The tip of the tongue is clicked against the upper teeth or the ridge behind the upper teeth. In Bantu languages, this click is represented by the letter c. Alveolar click |
This is sound people make in English when imitating a horse trotting, or a cork being pulled out of a bottle being opened. The tip of the tongue is pulled down from behind the ridge behind the upper teeth. In Bantu languages, this click is represented by the letter q.
Palatal click
The tongue is raised flat against the roof of the mouth, then it is pulled back. It is not a very common click sound.
Lateral click
This is sound people make in English to urge on horses (a gee up sound). The tip of the tongue tuches the ridge behind the front teeth, and the sides of the tongue are used. In Bantu languages, this click is represented by the letter x.
