Language desk
< July 13	<< Jun \| July \| Aug >>	Current desk >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

July 14

Tsk, tsk

Syllabic consonant refers to English tsk, tsk and gives an IPA transcription — [ǀǀ]. And ǀ is a dental click. I've always pronounced it as if it were tisk; is mine a rare spelling pronunciation, or is it common to some extent, either in America or elsewhere? Nyttend (talk) 13:39, 14 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

(US) I don't say it myself, but have exclusively heard it as "tisk". StuRat (talk) 13:42, 14 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

(UK) I myself have always used the dental click, usually with three or four iterations – in my experience it's common in the UK – and also say both "tisk tisk" and "tut tut" as (now) conscious and ironic spelling pronunciations. I first encountered both in childhood reading, and did not then connect them with the dental click as their spelling suggests rather different pronunciations, and so assumed they were independent expressions. I suspect this pattern is widespread although not necessarily usual. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.123.26.60 (talk) 14:17, 14 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Hm, reading through the spelling pronunciation article just now, I noted that tsk tsk is given as an example. Nyttend (talk) 14:55, 14 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Get out your Wizard of Oz DVD and go to where the foursome arrives at the Emerald City. The guard says to read the notice. They point out that the notice is missing. He utters a number of those "dental clicks", which we would probably write as "tsk". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:54, 14 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

"Tisk" is a spelling pronunciation, but not particularly uncommon. William Safire says when you use the interjection, as a sign of sympathy, it's a inspirated dental click, but when you refer to the sound, or when you use it sarcastically, you pronounce it as a word, "tisk".[1] But I've heard plenty of people pronounce the interjection with the vowel. CodeTalker (talk) 23:45, 14 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

In isiZulu, the consonant c actually stands for this sound, and is found syllable initially. (That is, it does not stand alone in normal words, but precedes a vowel, which does not occur in non-click languages) The elegant guide to San rock art here demonstrates the c, x (giddyup) and q (bottle-pop) click sounds found in the Nguni languages of which Zulu and Xhosa are members. μηδείς (talk) 01:07, 15 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Tut tut! is the usual transcription on the British side of the pond; Wiktionary gives the same IPA as quoted above. Example: "'Tut, tut!' said Mr Lorry; 'what is this despondency in the brave little breast?...'", from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Alansplodge (talk) 17:36, 15 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]