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18. č’, k’, p’, t’

PostPosted: February 11th, 2009, 2:42 am
by Jan
In the previous chapter you have been introduced to three sets of stops

1) plain: č, k, p, t
2) aspirated: čh, kh, ph, th
3) with guttural aspiration: kȟ, pȟ, tȟ

The fourth and last set of stops is called GLOTTALIZED STOPS or EJECTIVES. These sounds are not found in English or in any Western European language. Ejective sounds are formed by the near simultaneous release of two closures, one in the mouth at the position of the stop, the other in the larynx at the glottis. Some compression of the air in the mouth occurs due to the double closure, and it is the release of this compressed air that gives the characteristic ‘crack’ when the ejective is released.

Listen to words (and syllables) with glottalized stops:



č’: č’ó (č’a, č’e, č’i, č’o, č’u)
k’: k’á (k’a, k’e, k’i, k’o, k’u)
p’: p’ó (p’a, p’e, p’i, p’o, p’u)
t’: t’á (t’a, t’e, t’i, t’o, t’u)

Glottalized stops are the least frequent stops. They constitute only about 1-2% of stops in a Lakota text. They, however, occur in some commonly used words, such as:

kič’úŋ to wear/use one's own
šič’éšimale cousin

k’úto give smth to sb
k’á to dig smth
čík’alasmall
k’íŋto carry smth on the shoulders
k’uŋthe aforesaid

kap’óželalight in weight
p’ófog

t’áto die