by alexxzueva

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Glottal stop is a very common phenomenon in modern British English

it's a stop made by the vocal folds, not involving the tongue

it's mostly used to replace the sound /t/ or sometimes - /k/

the symbol used for the glottal stop is /ʔ/

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Part 1: Tutorial

https://youtu.be/G5kAjoMhOSs

Positions of vocal folds

  1. Apart - letting the air through (when we just breathe or say unvoiced consonants)
  2. Brought together and vibrating (when we say vowels and voiced consonants)
  3. Tightly brought together and blocking the air & voice (aka - the glottal stop!)

How to feel the glottal stop

  1. Try saying familiar phrases where it's used and exaggerate it.

    Slow down and focus on the sensation in the larynx. It's okay to start practising with sounds/words in your mother tongue so that you can focus entirely on the feeling of the glottal stop rather than articulation

  2. Try prolonging a vowel and stopping it abruptly, like you're cutting it off.

    It might remind you of a feeling when you're saying something and then you realise you shouldn't be saying it and you stop yourself abruptly halfway through a word/phrase.

  3. Try doing the same thing and then adding an outbreath after the glottal stop

    first - hold the vowel then stop it abruptly feel that the air is blocked and you can't breathe out then release the vocal folds and breathe out with noise

  4. Try doing the same with some common English words ending in /t/, like:

How to use the glottal stop

  1. Before consonants within words
  2. Before consonants on the border of words
  3. Before a pause at the end of words
  4. Before vowels on the border of words
  5. *Before vowels within words

Part 2: Practice with words & phrases