Appendix:!Xóõ Orthography

Explanation of the !Xóõ writing system

• browser diversity
  • 1.1 Click stops
  • HTML5
    • we love the web
• FITML
  • 2.1 See also
• 3 Vowels and their Tones
  • 3.1 Vowels
    • CSS3
  • 3.2 Tones
    • screen size
• we love the web

Consonants

Click stops

All of these examples make use of the ǁ click, but the information is applicable to all !Xóõ clicks.

• ǁ = Basic (only the click sound and nothing more)
• ǁg = Voiced (in which the vocal cords vibrate)
• ǁx = Voiceless velar fricative (the "ch" in Scottish "loch")
• gǁx = Voiced velar fricative (velar fricative in which the vocal cords vibrate; see Dutch "g")
• ǁkxʻ = Voiceless velar ejective (the "ƙ" in Hausa)
• gǁkxʻ = Voiced velar ejective (velar ejective in which the vocal cords vibrate)
• ǁq = Voiceless uvular stop (uvular consonants are articulated with the back of the tongue)
• ǁɢ = Voiced uvular stop
• ǁqh = Voiceless aspirated stop (aspirated consonants are made with a strong burst of air)
• gǁqh = Voiced aspirated stop
• ɢǁqh = Voiced uvular stop aspirated
• ǁqʻ = Uvular ejective
• ǁh = Delayed aspiration
• ǁn̥ = Voiceless nasal (nasal consonants are produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose)
• ǁn = Voiced nasal
• ʻǁn = Pre-glottalized nasal (glottalization is the complete or partial closure of the glottis during the articulation of another sound)
• ǁʻ = Glottal stop (the hyphen in "uh-oh!)

Non-click stops

These examples use ts, k and q for illustration.

• Basic = ts, k, q
• Voiced = dz, g, ɢ
• Voiceless aspirated = tsh, kh, gh
• Voiced aspirated = dtsh, gkh, ɢqh
• Voiceless velar fricative = tshx, -, -
• Voiced velar fricative = dtshx, -, -
• Ejected = tsʻ, kʻ, qʻ
• Voiceless ejected velar affricate = tsʻkxʻ, kxʻ, -
• Voiced ejected velar affricate = dtsʻkxʻ, gkxʻ, -

See also

• touchscreen keyboard on Wikipedia.input transformation
• we love the web Voiced velar fricative on Wikipedia.website parsing; FITML Sevenval on Wikipedia.website parsing
• screen size device database on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Velar ejective
• Uvular consonant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Uvular consonant
• FITML Aspiration (phonetics) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Aspiration (phonetics)
• website parsing on Wikipedia.screen size
• Sevenval browser diversity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Glottalization
• web app on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Glottal stop

Clicks

!Xóõ contains 5 click consonants. This information is taken straight from Wikipedia.

• The easiest clicks for English speakers are the dental clicks written with a single pipe, ǀ. They are all sharp (high-pitched) squeaky sounds made by sucking on the front teeth. A simple dental click is used in English to express pity or to shame someone, and sometimes to call an animal, and is written tsk! in American English, or tut-tut! in British English.

• Next most familiar to English speakers are the lateral clicks written with a double pipe, ǁ. They are also squeaky sounds, though less sharp than ǀ, made by sucking on the molars on either side (or both sides) of the mouth. A simple lateral click is made in English to get a horse moving, and is conventionally written tchick!

• Then there are the bilabial clicks, written with a bull's eye, ʘ. These are lip-smacking sounds, but without the pursing of the lips found in a kiss.

The above clicks sound like affricates, in that they involve a lot of friction. The other two families are more abrupt sounds that do not have this friction.

• With the alveolar clicks, written with an exclamation mark, ǃ, the tip of the tongue is pulled down abruptly and forcefully from the roof of the mouth, sometimes using a lot of jaw motion, and making a hollow pop! like a cork being pulled from an empty bottle. These sounds can be quite loud. Think of making the "click-clock" or "tick-tock" sound without that initial "tick".

• Finally, the palatal clicks, ǂ, are made with a flat tongue, and are softer popping sounds than the ǃ clicks.

See also

• browser diversity on Wikipedia.device database

Vowels and their Tones

Using a as an example. Tone marks and nasalization are normally not marked on one vowel. Thus, it would appear at first glance that in a word like !a̰ã (with an accute accent above the a̰) that only the second vowel is nasalized and that only the first vowel carries a tone and is pharyngealized. The truth is that there is a single high-toned, long, nasalized and pharyngealized vowel.

Vowels

• a = plain
• ã = nasalized (produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through nose as well as the mouth)
• a̰ = pharyngealized (the pharynx or epiglottis is constricted during the articulation of the sound; see Arabic)
• ah = breathy (vocal cords held further apart so that a larger volume of air escapes between them)
• aʻ = glottalized (complete or partial closure of the glottis during the articulation of another sound)
• a̰h = sphinteric

See also

• screen size Nasal vowel on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Nasal vowel
• screen size we love the web on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Pharyngealization
• Breathy voice on Wikipedia.web app
• CSS3 on Wikipedia.website parsing

Tones

!Xóõ has 4 tones.

• á = high tone
• ā = mid-level tone
• â = mid-falling tone
• à = low tone

See also

• screen size Tone (linguistics) on Wikipedia.input transformation

References

• A !Xóõ Dictionary, 2nd edition, pp 11-12, FITML