In phonetics, a Glottal Stop is a stop sound that is made by rapidly closing the vocal cords. Arthur Hughes describes the glottic stop as “a form of plosive in which closure is made by bringing the vocal cords together, as when breathing is held (the glottis is not an organ of speech, but the space between the vocal cords)” (” accents in English and dialects “, 2013). The term is also called a glottic plosive.
In “authority on language” (2012), James and Lesley Milroy point out that glottic stop appears in limited phonetic contexts. For example, in many dialects of English it can be heard as a variant of the / t / sound between vowels and at the end of words, such as metal, Latin, bought and cut (but not ten, take, stop or left ). the glottic stop instead of another sound is called glotation .
Glottal Stops Examples In English Phonetics
” Gothic stops are made quite frequently in English, although we rarely notice them because they do not make a difference in the meaning of English words … English speakers generally insert a Gothic stop before initial vowels, as in words it, com , and ay . If you say these words naturally, you will probably feel a lump in your throat just like you do in the expression uh-oh . ”
Why Glottal Stop Happens In plosive Stop
” Glottalization is a general term for any joint involving a simultaneous constriction, especially a glottic stop . In English, glottic stops are often used in this way to reinforce an explosive wordless voice at the end of a word, such as in what ”
- words : light, flight, put, take, do, travel, inform
- multi-syllable words : stoplight, apartment, backseat, assortment, workload, optimistic
- phrases : right now, answer, cook books, hate mail, fax machine, break your back
Uh-oh and other examples
“We often make this stop, it’s the sound we make when we say ‘uh-oh’. In some languages, this is a separate consonant sound , but in English, we often use it with d, t, k, g, b or p when one of those sounds happens at the end of a word or syllable … We close the vocal cords very abruptly and make the air stop for a moment, we don’t let the air escape.
“This glottic stop is the last sound of these words: it is also heard in words and syllables that end in t + a vowel + n . We don’t say the vowel at all, that’s why we say the t + n button : cotton, kitty, clinton , continent, forgotten, prayer. ”
Change of pronunciations
“Today, younger speakers of many forms of British English have gothic stops at the ends of words like cap, cat, and back. A generation or so ago, bbc English speakers would have considered such an inappropriate pronunciation, almost as bad as producing a glottic stop between vowels in the London butter cockney pronunciation … in the United States, almost everyone has a glottal stop on a button and a bite .
This sound happens because the space between the vocal folds is called the glottis and this “glottal stop” is when you open and close the opening of the vocal cords quickly. It is more or less what happens when we cough slightly and the throat closes briefly, which interrupts the flow of air. This interruption in the air flow happens when we say “ô ôu” (uh-oh!) As an interjection or an “ops”. Who remembers that ICQ sound ? =) Some words where you can find this particularity:
Mountain
Button
What
Setup
Forgotten
Partner
Forbidden
Britain
Better
Little
Bottle
Water
