Retroflex click

The retroflex clicks are a family of click consonants known only from the Central ǃKung language or dialect of Namibia. They are sub-apical retroflex and should not be confused with the more widespread postalveolar clicks, which have also been called "retroflex" (for example in Unicode) due to their concave tongue shape and sometimes apical-retroflex articulation.

The 'implicit' symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the forward articulation of these sounds is ⟨𝼊⟩. However, it has only been supported by Unicode since 2021, and usage before then is rare. In the literature, retroflex clicks have typically been written with the ad hoc digraph ⟨‼⟩, the convention since Doke identified them as retroflex in 1925. (Doke's proposed symbol, ⟨ψ⟩, did not catch on, though it has IPA support for historical transcription, nor did Vedder's and Anders' ⟨⦀⟩. For a while Amanda Miller, who noted a lateral fricated release (as had Vedder), transcribed them ⟨ǃ𐞷⟩.)

Retroflex clicks are extraordinarily rare. True retroflex clicks occur in at least some dialects of Central ǃKung. They are reconstructed for the Proto-Kxʼa language and tentatively for Proto-Khoe–Kwadi. A nasal retroflex click is reported from Damin.