[ǃ]→[ʔ]Certainty: 4/5Commonality: 1/5

Click Loss Debuccalization Glottalization Cushitic

Alveolar click to Glottal stop

The shift from an alveolar click [ǃ] to a glottal stop [ʔ] represents a severe form of click loss and debuccalization. In some cases, as the complex velaric airstream mechanism breaks down, both the anterior and posterior oral closures are lost, leaving only the glottal closure that often accompanies clicks as a 'stop-gap'.

Phonetic Effects

Click Loss, Debuccalization, Glottalization

Language Examples

Dahalo Cushitic

[ǃ]→[ʔ]— Dahalo (Kenya) retains clicks in only a few dozen lexical items. Under Swahili contact pressure, younger speakers sometimes reduce remaining clicks to glottal stops.

Related Transformations

Reverse

More Glottalization Shifts

[a] → [ʔ] — Glottalization [æ] → [ʔ] — Glottalization [e] → [ʔ] — Glottalization [ɡʱ] → [h] — Debuccalization [ʔ] → [æ] — De-glotticization

Sources & References

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