The Breathing “K”

What’s the difference between a guinea fowl and the possessive “my”? It’s the “h” that comes right after the “k”. Spoken language not uncommonly includes sounds that are not indicated in the written form. The “h” after the “k” is one such sound in English. Put the back of your hand right up close to your open mouth and say the word “Coke”. Feel the puff of air against your hand after the “c”? That’s the “h” (unwritten in English) that follows the “k” sound. “K” sounds in English when followed by a vowel, whether represented in writing with a “k” or a “c”, have that “h” behind them. We learn it as a part of the “k” sound without ever being told it’s there. So it doesn’t have to be written. “K” sounds at the end of words, however, such as the “k” in “coke” may or may not have the “h” after them! (Bruce doesn’t, Beth does. How about you?) And we learn that (whichever way we do it) without being told either.

For Chichewa, however, the national language of Malawi which we are learning to speak, there about as many “k’s” without the “h” as there are with it, even in the middle of words, and all are followed by vowels. So when a “k” appears you have to indicate whether you want the “h” with it, or not, (and, of course, say it) and the difference can be crucial. For example, the word for guinea fowl, nkhanga, has the “h” after the “k”, but an almost identical word without the “h” is one of the eight different ways you can say “my” or “mine” in Chichewa. (Yes, eight different ways, each with its own particular place! But that’s another story.) If you’re not getting the “h” right, though, there always the “n” before the “k” in nkhanga to distinguish “yours” from the fowl. But that’s another story too.

So try saying both “k” sounds in “coke” (or “cake”) without creating the puff of air which follows. I call it “swallowing” the “k”. You simply put the middle of your tongue up against your palate and pull it off just before making the vowel. It’s almost a quieter form of the cuckle or click you do when you pull the front of your tongue sharply away from your palate, and just one of a wide number of new sounds we’re learning to make. Instant regression to one year old! But also a reminder of the terrible frustration that must come to little ones when their sounds are not understood. It probably won’t take us 2-3 years to be saying sentences, understanding and being understood, or will it? Please pray that it won’t.