The palatal lateral ejective affricate is a rare type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨c͡ʎ̝̥ʼ⟩.
It is a rare sound, found in Dahalo, a Cushitic language of Kenya, and in Hadza, a language isolate of Tanzania. In Dahalo, /c͡ʎ̥̝ʼ/ contrasts with alveolar /tɬʼ/, and in Hadza it contrasts with velar [k͡ʟ̝̊ʼ], an allophone of /kʼ/.
Features of the palatal lateral 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 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 air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
It is a lateral consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream over the sides of the tongue, rather than down the middle.
The airstream mechanism is ejective (glottalic egressive), which means the air is forced out by pumping the glottis upward.
The Hadza sound has been transcribed as [t͡ʎ̥̝ʼ], but alveolar contact of the tongue is not distinctive.
