The velar ejective affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨kxʼ⟩. [kxʼ] is a common realization of a velar ejective often transcribed /kʼ/, and it is rare for a language to distinguish /kʼ/ and /kxʼ/, though several of the Nguni languages do so,[1] as well as the Northeast Caucasian language Karata-Tukita.
Features
Features of the velar ejective affricate:
Its manner of articulation is affricate, which means it is produced by first stopping the airflow entirely, then allowing air flow through a constricted channel at the place of articulation, causing turbulence.
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 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.
