Ejectives
An ejective combines an oral constriction with a closed glottis. Raising the larynx compresses the trapped air; releasing the oral closure creates a sharp outward burst. IPA [ʼ] follows the base consonant, giving [pʼ], [tʼ] or [kʼ]. The base identifies oral place and manner, while the modifier identifies the airstream. WALS documents Wintu /p’at-/ “fishtail” versus /pat-/ “mountain lion” and /k’il-/ “hail” versus /kil-/ “liver” as contrasts. These are modern-language examples from its published typological source, not reconstructed ancient words.
Some languages also use ejective affricates or fricatives; the official chart's four printed examples are illustrations, not a closed list. A glottalized consonant is a wider descriptive category, and not every glottalized stop has the aerodynamic gesture of an ejective. If an older source uses “glottalized” broadly, read its phonetic description before converting all its symbols to [ʼ].
Implosives
Implosives involve a downward laryngeal gesture during an oral closure and are commonly voiced. The official IPA has dedicated letters [ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ] for bilabial, dental/alveolar, palatal, velar and uvular voiced implosives. In the cited WALS chapter, Murle /aɠul/ “crocodile” exemplifies [ɠ]. An implosive is not simply “a voiced stop said backwards”; the airstream and timing distinguish its articulation. Nor does the existence of a special symbol make it rare in the speech communities that use it.
Contrast must be established within the language. A chart of possible IPA phones does not prove that /ɓ/ and /b/ distinguish words everywhere they occur phonetically. The same methodological rule applies to an alleged ancient implosive: evaluate transcription traditions, alternations and external evidence before using a narrow IPA reconstruction.
Uvular consonants and front rounded vowels
A uvular consonant is articulated behind the velar place, near the uvula. WALS gives Coast Tsimshian /qʼool/ “six” versus /kʼool/ “one” as a contrast between uvular and velar ejective stops. This example demonstrates that a small change in place can carry lexical meaning; it is not a universal contrast. The IPA distinguishes [q] from [k], and [χ] from [x], but actual realizations still vary by speaker and context.
Vowels can combine tongue frontness and lip rounding in ways unfamiliar from a learner's first language. [y] is close front rounded, distinct from [i] by lip rounding and from [u] by tongue position. WALS identifies [y] in modern French, Albanian, Mandarin and other languages; it also discusses German Kuh “cow” and Kühe “cows” as a historical fronting comparison. A student should read the vowel quadrilateral as independent dimensions, not as a list of spellings like English letters a, e, i, o, u.
Modern-language examples on this page clarify a linguistic pattern. They do not establish unattested sounds or forms for an ancient language. Follow the cited sources below and keep editorial readings separate from the surviving trace.