Pulmonic ingressive

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In human speech, pulmonic ingressive sounds are those in which the air stream is created by the lungs (pulmonic) inhaling and pulling air in (ingressive) through the mouth or nose. Pulmonic ingressive sounds are rare. The majority of sounds in most languages are pulmonic egressive.

[edit] Inhaled Affirmative "Yeah"

Several languanges include an affirmative "yeah", "yah", "yuh" or "yes" made with inhaled breath which sounds something like a gasp. This is an example of a pulmonic ingressive. This feature is found in:

Dialects of English spoken in Newfoundland and the Canadian maritimes

Hiberno-English, typically used to express agreement and show attentiveness in a phone conversation, for example.

In Swedish and Norwegian the word "ja" (yes) is often pronounced with inhaled breath which can be confusing to foreigners.

In Khalkha Mongolian the words тийм [tiim] ("yes") and үгүй [ugui] ("no") are often pronounced in daily conversation with pulmonic ingressive airflow.