Phonetics
Phonetics are phun! Aren’t they? Luckily for us, someone has already “solved” them and put them into a nice language for us to understand. For example, [kæt] is cat, and [ˈdɑɡ] is dog!
tl;dr: There are tons of symbols we use to represent different sounds people can make—those same sounds that make up language. But today I won’t be talking about any sounds you’ll find in English, but rather the odd and often misunderstood world of clicks!
The Click
Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth. My suggestion is not nearly on the teeth, but just a little further back. I also suggest, though you don’t have to, to push up on the roof on either the front-left or front-right of your mouth. Now suck in. If you did it right, your tongue should feel like its being pulled towards the roof of your mouth. In one sudden movement, open your mouth as wide as you can. Did you hear it? Click!
So What’s It?
Well that is an alveolar click! Also written as ⟨ǃʗ⟩. I have absolutely nothing else to say here.
[baɪ], Ilan Bernstein