Velar ejective

Velar ejective
kʼ
IPA number	109 + 401
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	k​ʼ
Unicode (hex)	U+006B U+02BC
X-SAMPA	k_>
Kirshenbaum	k`
Image
Sound
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The velar ejective is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨kʼ⟩.

Features

Features of the velar ejective:

• Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Since the consonant is also oral, with no nasal outlet, the airflow is blocked entirely, and the consonant is a stop.
• Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue at the soft palate.
• 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

See also

• List of phonetics topics

References

Bibliography

• Cruttenden, Alan, ed. (2008), Gimson's Pronunciation of English (7th ed.), London: Hodder,  
• Dum-Tragut, Jasmine (2009), Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company 
•  
• Gordeeva, Olga; Scobbie, James M. (2006), Phonetic Conditioning of Word-final Ejective Stops in the Speechfinal Ejective Stops in the Speech of Scottish English Pre-school Children (PDF), Edinburg: Speech Science Research Centre, Queen Margaret University College 
• Wells, John C.; Colson, Greta (1971), Practical Phonetics, London: Pitman,  
• Wells, John C. (1982), Accents of English I: An Introduction, Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press,