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Glottal between vowels

Quite often a glottal is used between vowels to mark the boundaries of syllables; particularly where the second syllable is also stressed. E.g. co-operate (co?operate), creation (cre?ation), piano (pi?ano). This usually characterises a very careful kind of speech, often heard amongst public speakers and actors when they are being very emphatic. The incidence of glottal stops between vowels is not only confined to single words. It very often occurs between words where the final sound in the first word is a vowel and the word following begins with a vowel. E.g. better off (better?off), play away (play?away), dye it (dye?it).

Note: In the case of 'better off the glottal may occur in an attempt to avoid a linking R sound and would be regarded as over-careful speech. There are numerous examples where this attempt to resist an R sound produces glottal stop. E.g. soda and water (sodarand water or soda?and water), law and order (lawrand order or law?and order), leisure activities (leisuractivities or leisure?activities).

The linking R is more commonly used where words end with U (the short neutral sound in other), AH or AW. It is indicated by spelling. E.g. other end (otherend), car exhaust (carexhaust), more and more (moreand more).

 

Glottals before vowels in initial accented syllables

The glottal stop may occur, and quite often does, when the speaker gives particular emphasis to a word beginning with a vowel. Usually the first syllable of the word is an accented one. E.g. ?O, for a muse of fire. That's ?awful!, He's ?ignorant.

 

CORRECTION

1. Concentration, in speaking, should be placed on the flow of the breath, rather than on the activity in the throat. This helps to relieve some of the unnecessary strain on the muscles of the throat.

2. All exercises should be undertaken quietly, at first.

3. In the case of glottal substituting for T or D, it is essential to establish the formation of those sounds first. Speaking slowly and breaking the words into separate syllables should assist this. For example, where the speaker would normally say 'bu?er' for 'butter', to practise this word as two very separate syllables, bu -tter, gradually increasing speed, is helpful.

4. Exercises for general breath control (see p. 20) and placing of the voice (see p. 40) assist in a fluent production of tone.

5. Exercises for relaxation, particularly of the throat and shoulders (see p. 12) form a necessary preliminary.

 

EXERCISES

 

1. Speak the following sequence of vowels, stressingthe H sound when it occurs:

2. Repeat exercise 1 but form a very lightly sounded H.

3. Repeat exercise 2, but omit the H. Leave a silence where is should occur. During the silence imagine the breath continuing to pass over the tongue, before speaking the vowel a second time.

4. Speak each of the vowels, whispering them first, then gradually voicing them quietly. The passage from 'whispered' to 'spoken' should be continuous:



5. Speak the vowels, leaving a moment's silence between each. Imagine that the breath is passing over the tongue during that silence.

6. Speak the following words, preceding each with an H sound:

7. Speak the words again leaving a silence between each in which you imagine the breath passing over the tongue. Concentrate on imagining the sound in the mouth and not in the throat.

8. Speak the following, placing an H between each of the words. Speak the second word strongly, with accent:

9. Repeat exercise 8, leaving a silence between the words, during which you imagine that the H is said.

10. Repeat this, connecting the words, without a glottal on the accented first syllable of the second word.

 


Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1128


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