ABSTRACT
This chapter explains about Click Consonants. Click consonants, which occur in Zuly, Xosa, Suto, Hottentots, Bushman, and other languages, like implosives, are sounds of a plosive nature made with the breath going in instead of out. The peculiar smacking sound is due to their special formation. There are five main types of click heard in South African languages. The bi-labial click, which occurs in Bushman. The dental click, made by the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth and teeth-ridge. The palato-alveolar click, made by the blade of the tongue against the teeth-ridge. The retroflex click, made by the curled-up tip of the tongue against the hard palate. The lateral click, made by the tip and blade of the tongue against the teeth-ridge and the front of the hard palate, the edges of the tongue touching the upper teeth all round.
