Ekoka !Kung phonology

Ekoka ǃKung has a similar sound system to Juǀʼhoansi. However, instead of a series of palatal clicks, etc, Ekoka ǃKung has a series of fricated alveolar clicks which have an -like release and historically derive from them. These are provisionally transcribed, etc., and behave similarly to palatal (rather than alveolar) clicks in terms of not following the back-vowel constraint.

In addition to the twelve 'accompaniments' of clicks in Juǀʼhoansi, Ekoka has preglottalized nasal clicks, such as. These are not common cross-linguistically, but are also found in Taa and ǂHoan.

König & Heine (2001) report the following inventory, with the clicks as analyzed by Miller (2011). One of the click series, called 'fortis' in König & Heine, is only attested at two places of articulation; it is not clear which this corresponds to in the table below. There are also prenasalized in Bantu loans.
 * is shown as post-alveolar; cf. the epiglottalized found in Juǀ'hoan, though this could be an alignment error. Similarly,  is shown as palatal, along with  and in contrast to post-alveolar.

Ekoka has a full set of modal and murmured (breathy) vowels, as well as pharyngealized back vowels, and a reduced set of modal, murmured, and pharyngealized nasal vowels:
 * i e a o u – ih eh ah oh uh – aq oq uq – in an un – ahn ohn – aqn oqn uqn

Phonemic contrasts in Ekoka include:


 * Pulmonic - click - twa to finish vs  to imitate
 * Pulmonic consonants
 * Voiced - voiceless unaspirated - voiceless aspirated stop: da skin, ta wild orange,  bee sting
 * Voiced - voiceless unaspirated - voiceless aspirated - ejective affricate: djau expression of surprise, tca to fetch,  week, tcʼa to pour
 * Voiced - voiceless fricative: za to sexually insult, se to see
 * Click consonants
 * Voiced unaspirated - voiced aspirated: ' puff adder, ' tree
 * Voiceless unaspirated - voiceless aspirated: ' noise, ' to know
 * Unaffricated - affricated release: ' behind, ' elephant
 * Plain - glottalised release: ' to roll up a blanket, ' rifle
 * Plain - nasalised: ' rhinoceros, ' to sit
 * Vowels
 * Plain - nasalised: ' rain, ' red
 * Plain - pharyngealised: ' springhare, ' big talker
 * Short - long: ' to throw, ' to put in