Consonants made with non-pulmonic airstream mechanisms

Implosives

The mechanism to produce implosives is the opposite of that of ejectives. Here, instead of squeezing the air and increasing the pressure, the downward-moving larynx sucks the air inward and reduces the air pressure. In general, the glottis cannot remain tightly closed during this downward movement of the larynx, and there is vocal cord vibration. When the closure in the vocal tract is released, the air rushes in, and thus ‘implosives’ are stops made by glottalic ingressive airstream. Implosives can be found in many African languages (e.g. Zulu, Hausa) and are symbolized by the addition of an upper rightward hook to the appropriate stop symbol ().