Palatal ejective stop

A palatal ejective is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages, and the symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) that represents this sound is ⟨cʼ⟩.

Features

Some of the features of a palatal ejective stop are:

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, it is a plosive.
Its place of articulation is palatal, which means it is articulated with the middle or back part of the tongue raised to the hard palate.
Its phonation is voiceless, 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.

Language	Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Hausa	^{[orthography needed]}	[cʼaːɽa]	'grass'	The three-way contrast between palatals /c ɟ cʼ/, plain velars /k ɡ kʼ/, and labialized velars /kʷ ɡʷ kʷʼ/ is found only before long and short /a/.
Jaqaru	^{[example needed]}
Keres	^{[example needed]}
Nuxalk	kʼc	[cʼç]	'to see'	Cognate with /t͡ʃʼ/ in other Salishan languages.
Nǁng	cʼaqe	/cʼaˤe/	'to be finely-sized'

↑ Newman, Paul (1996). "Hausa Phonology". In Kaye, Alan S.; Daniels, Peter T. (eds.). Phonologies of Asia and Africa (PDF). Eisenbrauns. pp. 537–552.
↑ "Jaqaru language, alphabet and pronunciation".
↑ Lachler, Jordan (2005). Grammar of Laguna Keres. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Dissertation.
↑ Davis, Irvine (1964). The Language of Santa Ana Pueblo, Smithsonian Bulletin 191, Anthropological Papers, No. 69.
↑ Nater, Hank (2026-03-12). All-Obstruent Words in Bella Coola: Phonotactics, Diachrony, Geography.
↑ Mats Exter, 2008 [2012], Properties of the Anterior and Posterior Click Closures in Nǀuu, dissertation, University of Cologne