The Glottal Stop
In the previous lesson, you focused on dental fricatives, learning about the distinct sounds /θ/ and /ð/ and how they are formed using the tongue against the upper teeth. In this lesson, we’ll explore a different feature of English pronunciation: the glottal stop.
The glottal stop /ʔ/ is a sound that occurs when the airflow is briefly stopped by the vocal cords. It often replaces the /t/ sound when it appears in the middle or at the end of a word. For example, water can be pronounced as /ˈwɔːʔə/ and gutted as /ˈɡʌʔɪd/.
This sound is common in informal speech.
| Water | /ˈwɔːʔə/ | That one | /ðæʔ wʌn/ |
| Gutted | /ˈɡʌʔɪd/ | Late for tea | /leɪʔ fə tiː/ |
Exercise 8A
Choose the phrase that matches the given phonetic transcription for each pair. Pay attention to where the glottal stop occurs and how it changes the sound of the word.
This thing is finished!
/ðɪs θɪŋ ɪz ˈfɪnɪʃt/