Creaky-voiced glottal approximant
The creaky-voiced glottal approximant is a consonant sound in some languages. In the IPA, it is transcribed as ⟨ʔ̞⟩, ⟨ʔ̰⟩, or ⟨ʔ̬⟩. It involves tension in the glottis and diminution of airflow, compared to surrounding vowels, but not full occlusion.
Features
Features of the creaky-voiced glottal approximant:
- Its manner of articulation is approximant, which means it is produced by narrowing the vocal tract at the place of articulation, but not enough to produce a turbulent airstream.
- Its phonation is creaky-voiced.
- It is an oral consonant, which means air is allowed to escape through the mouth only.
- Because the sound is not produced with airflow over the tongue, the central–lateral dichotomy does not apply.
- Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air solely with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.
Occurrence
It is an intervocalic allophone of a glottal stop in many languages.