Velar ejective stop

A 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⟩.

Velar ejective stop
kʼ
IPA number	109 + 401
Audio sample
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Encoding
Entity (decimal)	k​ʼ
Unicode (hex)	U+006B U+02BC
X-SAMPA	k_>
Image

Features

Features of a 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 plosive.
• Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
• Its phonation is un-voiced, which means it is produced without vibrations of the vocal cords.
• It is an oral consonant, which means that air is not allowed to escape through the nose.
• It is a median consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream down the midline 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

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abkhaz		акы/aky	[akʼə]	'one'
Adyghe	Temirgoy	шкӏэ/س̈ڃە/šč̣ʼǎ		'calf'
	Shapsug	кӏьэ / ڃیە / č̣yė		'tail'	Palatalized. Corresponds to [t͡ʃʼ] in other dialects.
Amharic		ቀን/ḳän		'day'
Archi		кIан/k'an	[kʼan]	'bottom'
Armenian	Yerevan dialect	կեղծ/kekhts	[kʼɛʁt͡sʼ]	'false'	Some speakers. Corresponds to tenuis [k⁼] in most speakers and other Eastern dialects.
	Tbilisi dialect	կարմիր/karmir	[kʼɑɹmiɹ]	'red'
Avar		кӀул / گۇل / ḳul	[kʼuɫ]	'key'
Chechen		кӀант/khant/ࢰانت	[kʼənt]	'boy'
Damin		k'uu	[kʼuː]	'eye'
English	Non-local Dublin	back	[bækʼ]	'back'	Allophone of /k/ for some speakers.
	Northern English				Pre-pausal allophone of /k/ for some speakers; may be somewhat palatalised. See English phonology
	Southern English
	Scottish				Occasional word-final allophone of /k/.
Georgian		კაბა/kʼaba	[kʼɑbɑ]	'dress'
Haida		ttsanskkaagid	[tsʼanskʼaːkit]	'beams'
Hausa		ƙoƙari / ࢼُوْࢼَرِی	[kʼòːkʼɐ̄ɾī]	'effort'
Kabardian	Besleney	кӏьапсэ / ࢰالسە / ćapse		'rope'	Palatalized. Corresponds to [t͡ʃʼ] in other dialects.
Kʼicheʼ		k'ak'	[kʼaːkʼ]	'new'
Lak		кӀлла/ⱪalla/ࢰالّا	[kʼalːa]	'rootless, foreign'
Lezgian		кIир/k'ir	[kʼir]	'fang'
Mpade		takʼwa	[takʼʷa]	'to vomit'
Navajo		k'os	[kʼòs]	'cloud'
Ossetian	Iron	къона/khona	[ˈkʼonä]	'hearth'
	Digoron	дзæкъолæ/dzækholæ	[d͡zəˈkʼoɫə]	'bag'
Quechua		k'aspi	[kʼaspi]	'stick'
Saanich		^[example needed]			Labialized
Sotho		^[example needed]

See also

• List of phonetics topics