"tsk tsk": clicks in non-click lgs

[Willy Vandeweghe]

Dear David

'Tss tss' or 'tsk-tsk' in Dutch (dental alveolar) has among its effects
disapproval, distancing oneself from something, and in some cases downright
prohibiting (e.g. in the case when uttered to a child, usually accompanied
by making a gesture with the index finger from left to right, mimicking
shaking of the head indicating 'no'.)

Note that also in Greek the negation-'tsk' is accompanied by a gesture: a
slight lifting of the head (or rather, the face).

There is in Dutch (and its dialects) also a lateral, k-like click used for
incitement: to incite a horse (I heard my father use it - I am from the
Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, but it would surprise me that this specimen
of 'horse-talk' would be restricted to this area), but also for the
incitement of children (the latter was told to me by a Netherlandic
colleague).

Willy

----- Original Message -----
From: David Gil <gil at eva.mpg.de>
To: <LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>
Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2001 6:42 PM
Subject: "tsk tsk": clicks in non-click lgs


> Something a little different ...
>
> In English, there is a sound, written either "tsk-tsk" or "tut-tut",
> which is a dental click, symbolized as "|".  Its use is as an
> exclamation, expressing disapproval, impatience, mockery, or, more
> generally, what might be characterized as "negative affect".
>
> The purpose of this query is to explore the cross-linguistic
> distribution of click sounds, such as "|", in "non-click-languages",
> used to express various notions of negativity.
>
> The English "tsk-tsk" occurs also in Irish, French, German and Japanese.
>  However, in Russian, similar negative affect may be expressed either
> with "|" or with a lateral click "||".  Interestingly, in a contiguous
> zone including southern Italian, Greek, Bulgarian, Turkish, Georgian,
> Persian, Hebrew and Tunis Arabic, the "tsk-tsk" sound is associated with
> a somewhat more grammaticalized function: simple negation.  Thus, in
> response to a yes-no question, a dental click is an appropriate answer,
> meaning, simply, "no".  However, in many languages in other parts of the
> world, there seem to exist no corresponding usages of click sounds,
> though there may be other usages.  For example, in Tagalog, a biliabial
> click (or perhaps ingressive fricative) is used to attract attention,
> eg. by cigarette vendors calling out for customers, or by passengers on
> a bus when they want the driver to stop.
>
> My questions are the following:
>
> (1) In the language(s) you are familiar with, does there exist a click
> sound with a meaning broadly associated with negation (as in Hebrew) or
> negative affect (as in English)?
>
> [Please note:  I am also particularly eager to collect *negative* data,
> ie. claims (provided they are solid and robust) to the effect that a
> certain language does NOT have any click sounds associated with such
> functions.]
>
> If your answer to (1) is yes, then ...
>
> (2) What are the phonetic properties of the click sound?  (Is it dental
> like English "tsk-tsk", lateral, etc.?)
>
> (3)  How is the click sound used?  (Does it express negative affect like
> English "tsk-tsk", simple negation as in Hebrew, etc.?)
>
> Any other related comments, ideas, and so forth, would also be greatly
appreciated.
>
> **********
>
> Appendix:
> Here are some references for clicks and negativity:
>
> [1]  Darwin, Charles (1872) "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and
> Animals", D. Appleton and Company, New York.
>
> (Available online at
> http://paradigm.soci.brocku.ca/~lward/Darwin/darwin00.html,  chapter 11
> mentions "clucks" associated with gestures for "no")
>
> [2]  Morris, Desmond, Peter Collett, Peter marsh and Marie O'shaughnessy
> (1979) "Gestures", Stein and Day, New York.
>
> (Maps the geographical distribution, within Europe, of 20 different
> gestures, one of which, the "Head Toss", also involves the dental click.)
>
> [3] LINGUIST List 3.1012, Wed 23 Dec 1992, Sum: Yes/No Gestures
>
> (Available online at http://linguist.emich.edu/issues/3/3-1012.html,
> mentions the "tsk tsk" sound with the meaning of negation.)
>
> I'd also be grateful for any additional references on this topic.
>
> --
> David Gil
>
> Department of Linguistics
> Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
> Inselstrasse 22, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
>
> Telephone: 49-341-9952321
> Fax: 49-341-9952119
> Email: gil at eva.mpg.de
> Webpage:  http://monolith.eva.mpg.de/~gil/
>