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Glottal Meaning
The glottal sound is so prevalent in English that you'll hear it often used in any dialect. So what is the meaning of “glottal”?
Glottal: means of or produced by a place of articulation located in a part of the throat called the glottis.
If you’ve never thought about the distinct parts of your throat, you may also need a definition for glottis.
Glottis: the part of the larynx that contains the vocal cords and the opening between the cords.
When a consonant sound is made, the vocal cords are either open to allow air to flow through (as in /r/ in the word hair) or they’re constricted (as in /p/ in the word up).
Where is the glottis, exactly? It’s found in the larynx, just above the esophagus. As mentioned, the glottis contains the vocal cords (or vocal folds) and the space between them. While the vocal cords can either be open or closed, there is a range of how open they are. The more open they are, the less vibration; the more restricted they are, the more vibration.
When the vocal cords are constricted, but some air still passes through, this causes vibration. The resulting buzzing sound is known as voicing or voiced pronunciation. You’ll notice the sound if you make the /v/ sound — as opposed to /f/ where the vocal cords don’t vibrate. Another way to say it is that /v/ is voiced and /f/ is voiceless. Aside from this phenomenon, they both come from the same place of articulation.
Place of articulation refers to the place in the mouth or throat where a sound is produced. There are seven places of articulation:
Dental (involves the teeth)
Palatal (involves the palate of the mouth)
Labial (involves one lip)
Bilabial (involves both lips)
Alveolar (involves the alveolar ridge of the mouth)
Glottal (involves the glottis)
So, glottal is one of several places of articulation. In the example with the words hair and up, the ending sounds /r/ and /p/ don’t share the same place of articulation; /r/ is alveolar (inside the mouth), and /p/ is bilabial (uses both lips).
If you added an /h/ to the word air to get hair, you’d have a word with a glottal place of articulation because /h/ is a glottal consonant.
Glottal Consonants
Glottal consonants are those that are produced using the glottis in some way. The /h/ sound is one of two glottal consonant sounds in the English language.
Try saying (or mouthing) the following words, paying attention to what your throat is doing when you pronounce the /h/:
Hat
Rehab
Bohemian
Helicopter
Did you notice the part of your throat that was engaged when you said the /h/ sound in those words? That’s your glottis! The /h/ sound is one of two glottal consonants; the other is known as the glottal stop.
Glottal Stop
A glottal stop is made by the rapid closure of the vocal cords, almost like when you hold your breath. A good example is to think of the middle part of the phrase “uh-oh.”
It’s easy for English speakers to not be aware of the glottal stop because there isn’t a single corresponding letter of the alphabet (as with /h/). There is, however, a symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet to represent the glottal stop sound, which is /ʔ/.
The symbol for glottal stop looks similar to a question mark without the dot on the bottom, but don’t confuse the two!
Languages such as Arabic and Hawaiian must have a way to mark the glottal stop; the ʻokina is represented with an inverted apostrophe (ʻ) in Hawaiian, and the Hamza is represented with a special character (ء) in Arabic. These languages need a way to represent the glottal stop because the sound can mean the difference between two different words.
Hawaiian:
Pau means “completed”
Paʻu means “soot”
It’s essential to Hawaiian communication to have a way to represent /ʔ/ to differentiate these (and other) words. The glottal sound doesn’t carry any phonemic meaning in English, though. This means the glottal stop won’t affect the meaning of a word, although it may make it easier to say.
Glottal stops are still common in English, even though they don't signify a particular meaning. When we use a glottal stop in the articulation of another sound, this is called glottalization. One place you might hear an unexpected glottalization is before word-initial vowels.
Say the word umbrella. Now say it slowly, drawing out the beginning vowel as much as possible. The stoppage of air flowing out before the vowel sound is a glottal stop!
You likely don't notice this sound, but there is a brief closing of the vocal cords before a vowel at the beginning of a word.
Glottal Replacement
Another instance of glottalization is a complete glottal replacement. This is when a consonant is replaced with a glottal stop. Perhaps the most common and easily identified use of /ʔ/ in English is as a replacement for /t/.
Many dialects of English use a glottal stop as a variation of the /t/ sound, but most notably, the Cockney accent is notorious for replacing /t/ with /ʔ/.
Button = bu'un (/bəʔn/)
(See IPA for phonetic symbol chart)
Better = be'uh (beʔʌ)
Fig. 2 - The International Phonetic Alphabet is a standardized representation of various speech sounds.
Here are some specific instances where a consonant sound may be replaced with a glottal stop.
- Between vowels and the end of a word: This may be subtle or highly pronounced, depending on the individual.
- Example: Mountain might sound like /maʊnʔn/.
With n't contractions: This may be subtle or highly pronounced, depending on the individual.
Example: Couldn't might sound like /kʊdnʔ/.
Glottal - Key takeaways
- The term glottal means of or produced by a place of articulation located in a part of the throat called the glottis.
- The glottis is the part of the larynx that contains the vocal cords and the opening between the cords.
- A glottal stop is made by the rapid closure of the vocal cords, almost like when you hold your breath.
- A glottal stop is represented by a /ʔ/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet.
- Glottal stops are common in English, even though they don't signify a particular meaning.
References
- Fig. 2 - International Phonetic Alphabet (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/IPA_chart_2020.svg) by International Phonetic Association (https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/IPAcharts/IPA_chart_orig/IPA_charts_E.html) licensed by Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Creative_Commons)
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Frequently Asked Questions about Glottal
What is glottal?
Glottal: means of or produced by a place of articulation located in a part of the throat called the glottis.
What is glottal sound example?
A glottal sound example is the /t/ sound in the word certain. You will also notice it in between “uh” and “oh” in “uh-oh.”
Which consonants are glottal in English?
The /h/ sound is one of two glottal consonant sounds in the English language. The other consonant sound is a glottal stop, which typically replaces another consonant.
What is glottal replacement?
Many dialects of English use a glottal stop as a variation of the /t/, but most notably the cockney accent is notorious for replacing /t/ with /ʔ/.
Does English have a glottal sound?
Yes, English does have a glottal sound. The /h/ sound is one of two glottal consonant sounds in the English language.
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