Glottal stop (letter)

The symbol ⟨ʔ⟩ is a letter of the Latin alphabet, used to represent a glottal stop in several phonetic transcription schemes, as well as in the alphabets of some languages. A superscript version, ⟨ˀ⟩, is also used.

Its shape is based on an enlarged curly apostrophe ⟨’⟩, which is also widely used to represent a glottal stop.

Where the glottal stop character is not available, it is sometimes replaced by a question mark ⟨?⟩, which is also its official representation in SAMPA, and to which it bears a striking resemblance.

Glottal stops

In phonetic transcription as well as in several languages, a single, tall glyph is used in all situations, with no distinction between uppercase and lowercase. However, in the Chipewyan, Dogrib, and Slavey languages, the tall version is only used for the uppercase, and a short version is used for the lowercase.

Usage

Technical transcription

• Americanist phonetic notation — either ˀ or ʔ.
• Transcription of Australian Aboriginal languages — occasionally ʔ.
• International Phonetic Alphabet — ʔ only.
• Uralic Phonetic Alphabet — ˀ only.

Vernacular orthographies

• Languages of Canada
  • Chipewyan — both Ɂ and ɂ.
  • Dogrib — both Ɂ and ɂ.
  • Kootenai — ʔ only.
  • Musqueam language — ʔ only.
  • Nootka — ʔ only.
  • Slavey — both Ɂ and ɂ.
  • Nitinaht — ʔ only.
  • Thompson — ʔ only.
  • Lushootseed

Computing codes

In Unicode 1.0, only the tall version and superscript version were included. In version 4.1 (2005), an uppercase character was added, and the existing tall glottal stop was redefined as its lowercase. Finally, in version 5.0 (2006) it was decided to separate the cased and caseless usages, assigning separate characters to each.^[1]

See also

• ʾ
• ʕ
• ʡ
• ʢ
• ʖ
• ƾ
• ʻOkina
• Aleph
• Apostrophe
• Hamza
• Saltillo (letter)
• Sokuon
• Spiritus lenis

References