Glottal Stop | Learn English | Linguaspectrum

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• published: 30 Mar 2011
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Learn More: http://linguaspectrum.com British English Pronunciation Course: http://soundsbritish.com Index of Daily Doses: http://DailyDoseOfEnglish.com Hello and welcome to another Daily Dose of English. Today's request comes from Belkada Adel in Algeria. He's sent me a voice request through the Daily Dose of English request form at Linguaspectrum. "Hello Richard. I am Belkada Adel from Algeria and I'd like to ask you about the glottal stop. Could you help me in using it by giving me rules? Thank you, my dear teacher. Goodbye." Now that's an interesting question. It's probably also left a lot of viewers scratching their heads asking themselves "What on earth is a glottal stop?" It's probably best if I tell you what a glottal stop is before I tell you how to use it. A glottal stop is also known as the voiceless glottal plosive and it's used in many languages besides English. In fact, you probably use it without being aware of it. The phonetic symbol for the glottal stop is this. The glottal stop is called the glottal stop because the sound is made when the vocal cords close and stop the flow of air. The gap between the vocal cords is called the glottis. Now, that word plosive that I used a moment ago - voiceless glottal plosive - means an obstruction of the flow of air from the lungs to the mouth and nose - the vocal tract - caused by the closing of the vocal cords. It is also a voiceless sound which doesn't mean that there is no sound but that the sound is not made with the vocal cords. In the case of the glottal stop, the vocal cords cannot make a sound because they are closed tightly together when the sound is made. How can you tell if a sound is voiced or unvoiced? It's easy. Just plonk your fingers on the side of your neck like this. Make a sound like a buzzing bee. ZZZZZZZZZ. Feel a vibration? Good! That's a voiced sound. Now say the sound SSSSSSS like a hissing snake. Feel a vibration in your throat? You didn't, did you? Good! That's a voiceless sound, though it's still part of your voice. You're just not using your vocal cords. Now close your mouth and say UUUUUHHHHHH! That's voiced, too, but the sound is a nasal sound. That is, the air is only being released from your nose. Try making it with your mouth and nose blocked. You can't! That's why we sound strange when we have a cold. All of the nasal sounds are removed from our voice and we sound as if we have a cold. Now, the glottal stop is not a nasal sound. It is an oral consonant. This means that the air can only escape through the mouth and not the nose. Right, that's the technical details out of the way. Now let's demonstrate some glottal stops. Say the word cat. Cat. Notice that the sound of the /t/ is clear and distinct. This is a /t/ sound not a glottal stop. Many people say cat with a glottal stop. Cat with a glottal stop sounds like this... Cat, cat, cat. There, you can use a glottal stop. Now try the word but. Without the glottal stop - but, but. With the glottal stop - but. Most people use the glottal stop without thinking about it, but this request also calls for some rules for the use of the glottal stop. Well, here goes... In informal speech the /t/ sound is often replaced with the glottal stop when the /t/ sound is at the end of a syllable and the sound before the /t/ sound is a stressed vowel sound, or a syllabic /l/, /m/ and /n/ sound and the next syllable or word begins with a consonant sound. It's pointless becomes it's pointless because a glottal stop replaces the /t/ sound after the syllabic /n/. So, point, pointless... I'll get my coat becomes I'll get my coat when a glottal stop is used in place of the /t/ in both get and coat. In words such as butter, where the /t/ sound is not only preceded but also followed by a vowel sound, many people consider the use of a glottal stop to be lazy speech. You can't put a better bit of butter on your knife becomes You can't put a better bit of butter on your knife when glottal stops are liberally used in 'lazy' speech. The most pronounced use of the glottal stop can be found in Cockney English where the glottal stop replaces the /p/, the /t/ and the /k/ sounds when they are preceded by a stressed vowel sound and are followed by an unstressed vowel sound. For instance, water. The vowel sound before the /t/ is stressed - /ɔ:/ - but the vowel sound following it is not - /ə/. This means that in Cockney you can replace the /t/ sound with a glottal stop - water. I hope you enjoyed this Daily Dose of English and I'll see you again soon for another one. Goodbye for now. If you are serious about improving your English, then perfecting your accent should be an important part of the process. Visit my pronunciation website at http://soundsbritish.com where you can download free sample copies of my eBook, An Interactive British English IPA Chart, and the 2000+ question Practice Pack that goes with it. Invest in your future today.