Glottal stop

North American English speakers often substitute another sound for t, d, k, g, p, b It's a sound we make down deep in the throat in the place where we make the voice. Down in the Adam apple. It's the ʔ sound. It's the sound we make when we say "Uh oh". This sound is called a glottal stop. When the sound comes at the end of a word or syllable, we say this stop but in a very different way. Instead of letting the air pass through the lips or teeth, we stop the air very quickly at the voice box, the Adam's apple, the glottis. You can find a drawing of the glottis in the illustration of points of articulation in your booklet. We make the air completely stop, for a moment. Listen to these examples. All of them have this glottal stop, at the end of the word. Light. Can you hear the throat close for a moment at the end? Light Flight Put Take Make Trip Report Now, listen to these compound words, with more than one syllable. You can hear a stop in the middle of the word, and again at the end. Stoplight Stoplight Apartment Apartment Backseat Backseat Assortment Assortment Workload Workload Now you try it. Say these after me. And be sure that you make the air stop completely. Light Light Put Put Take Take Make Make Trip Report Report Stoplight Stoplight Apartment Apartment Backseat Backseat Assortment Assortment Workload Workload Upbeat Upbeat Let's try some phrases. say after me please and be careful to stop the air completely at the stops. Right now Right now Talk back Talk back Cook the books Cook the books Hate mail Hate mail Fax machine Fax machine Back breaking Back breaking You can also this sound when North American English speakers say Button Cotton Can you hear it? When the word has a T, a t, and a vowel, and an N, n at the end, we make a glottal stop and we don't say the vowel at all. So then we say n immediately after the stop. Listen. Kitten Kitten Clinton Clinton Continent Continent Forgotten Forgotten Sentence Sentence Now you try it. Say after me please and be sure you make a complete stop of the air. Button, button Cotton, cotton Kitten, kitten Clinton, clinton Continent Continent Forgotten Forgotten Sentence Sentence This sound is called a glottal stop, Does it make your throat tired? It makes mine tired, too. This is not easy. Practice these words often and listen to native speakers. They use this sound all the time and they probably don't even know it.