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Though most speech is pulmonic egressive, other mechanisms are also possible (Table 2.2). Pulmonic INGRESSIVE speech, for instance, entails inward airflow to the lungs. We occasionally use this mechanism when we run out of breath while counting aloud. However, because pulmonic ingressive speech is difficult to control and uncomfortable to sustain, it is rare. It is interesting to note that it has special uses in certain cultures. In Switzerland, for instance, a speech style called fensterle was once used during ritual courtship. Traditional accounts say that a male suitor would call to his sweetheart through a window using ingressive speech to disguise his voice from her parents. Intriguingly, a similar ritual has been identified halfway around the world among speakers of the Hanunó'o language in the Philippines.

You'll find links to audio examples of clicks, along with animations, at the APSSEL website.

Not all speech uses pulmonic air. One category of speech sounds, called EJECTIVE, is created by closing the glottis and moving the larynx rapidly upward, causing a brief egressive airflow. Because the airstream is initiated by laryngeal movement with a closed glottis, and not by the lungs, these sounds are said to use a glottalic mechanism. Though English does not use ejectives, many Indigenous languages of the Americas, such as the Salishan languages of southwest Canada and the northwestern United States, feature them, as do certain languages spoken in Africa.

Table 2.2 Speech Production Mechanisms

Airflow	Mechanism	Sound Type	Examples
Egressive	Pulmonic	Typical speech	All languages
Egressive	Glottalic	Ejective	Squamish (SW Canada)
Ingressive	Pulmonic	Ritual disguised speech	Swiss‐German fensterle and Hanunó'o courtship
Mixed	Glottalic/pulmonic	Implosive	Vietnamese
Ingressive	Velaric	Click	Sandawe (Tanzania)

Another production mechanism, called velaric , is used to generate CLICK sounds, which occur in the Khoisan languages and other languages of southern Africa. Clicks require ingressive airflow, achieved by “sucking” air into the oral cavity from outside. In more precise terms, the speaker reduces the air pressure in the vocal tract. Though clicks are not used linguistically in English, you already know how to produce a click at the lips with a kissing gesture that causes inward air movement. You may also be familiar with another click that is used non‐linguistically to urge a horse to move.

One last unusual type of sound, called implosive, occurs in languages of Southeast Asia such as Vietnamese, as well as in parts of Africa and North America. Implosives entail a rapid lowering of the larynx, a gesture opposite to that used in ejectives. While this means that they have a glottalic INGRESSIVE component, there is a bit of a complication in that egressive air from the lungs is also involved. For this reason, they are considered to entail a “mixed” airstream.