See also: ◌̓, ʻ [U+02BB MODIFIER LETTER TURNED COMMA], [U+A78C LATIN SMALL LETTER SALTILLO], and ' [U+0027 APOSTROPHE]

ʼ U+02BC, ʼ
MODIFIER LETTER APOSTROPHE
ʻ
[U+02BB]
Spacing Modifier Letters ʽ
[U+02BD]

Translingual

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Etymology

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Use for glottal stop derives from the apostrophe, for example in Hawaiian (now replaced by the okina to distinguish it from an actual apostrophe).

Use to mark ejective consonants started with transliteration of Georgian script; it was an adaptation of the spiritus lenis and contrasted with the spiritus asper used to mark aspirated consonants, as the most salient distinctive feature of Georgian ejectives was that they were not aspirated. Usage extended from there to other languages with ejective consonants.

Symbol

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In IPA usage, the ejective mark always modifies a consonant letter.

ʼ

  1. (IPA) an ejective consonant
    e.g. [kʼ], [tʼ], [sʼ].
  2. transliteration of Semitic glottal stop (aleph and hamza).
    Synonym: ʾ

Usage notes

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Americanist phonetic notation may use a combining diacritic ◌̓ for ejective consonants.

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Avokaya

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Pronunciation

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. A letter of the Avokaya alphabet.

Bodo (India)

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Letter

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ʼ (ʼ)

  1. High tone on a short vowel /ɔ/, as in बरʼ /bɔrɔ́/ 'Bodo'.

Cayuga

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Pronunciation

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. Alternative form of ˀ

Chamorro

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. The first letter of the Chamorro alphabet, used for the glottal stop.

Chiwere

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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  1. IPA(key): /ʔ/

Letter

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ʼ

  1. A letter of the Chiwere alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Chukchi

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Letter

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ʼ (ʼ)

  1. The thirty-seventh letter of the Chukchi alphabet, written in the Cyrillic script.

See also

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Dogri

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ʼ (ʼ)

  1. Low rising tone on a short vowel /ə ɪ ʊ/, e.g. लʼत्त /lə̌tː/ 'leg'.

Guaraní

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. The thirty-third letter of the Guaraní alphabet, called puso, used for the glottal stop.

Khoekhoe

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. (obsolete) the lateral clicks, modern ⟨ǁ⟩. (Besides plain ⟨ʼ⟩, it is also used for the lateral click consonants ʼk ʼg ʼn ʼh ʼkh.)
    See also , , ʻ.

Kwak'wala

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Alternative forms

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  • ʔ in Liqʼwala dialect

Pronunciation

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. A letter of the Kwak'wala alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Lakota

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Pronunciation

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. A letter of the Lakota alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

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Lashi

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. High-falling lexical tone.

Usage notes

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A final glottal stop is unwritten on syllables with this tone. Thus transcribes both /a᷇/ and /a᷇ʔ/. Full falling tone is unmarked, except for syllables with a final glottal stop, which is transcribed ,.

Lhao Vo

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. High lexical tone with a final plosive consonant.

Usage notes

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A final glottal stop is unwritten. Thus /a/ with a final plosive and high tone is written abʼ adʼ agʼ aʼ for [áp át ák áʔ]. High tone is written ˮ with a final vowel or nasal.

Lisu

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. The forty-seventh letter of the Lisu alphabet.

Usage notes

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  • Used to indicate nasalisation and is combined with tone marks.

Pronunciation

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. A letter of the Mam alphabet.
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Pronunciation

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  1. IPA(key): /ʔ/

Letter

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ʼ

  1. The nineteenth letter of the Navajo alphabet. It is used before or after a vowel to indicate a glottal stop.

Usage notes

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Every Navajo word begins with either the glottal stop or another consonant. If an orthographic vowel begins a word, it is pronounced with a glottal stop: ooljééʼ (sometimes spelled ʼooljééʼ).

⟨ʼ⟩ forms the following Navajo letters: chʼ, , , tłʼ, tsʼ.

See also

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O'odham

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Pronunciation

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. The letter of the O'odham alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Seneca

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. The letter of the Seneca alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Somali

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Pronunciation

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. The first letter of the Somali alphabet, called alef and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

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  • This is the first letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows Arabic abjad order. It is followed by B. It is rarely used in the initial position.

See also

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Tabasaran

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. The forty-eighth letter of the Tabasaran alphabet, written in the Cyrillic script.

See also

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Tahitian

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The Tahitian ʼeta

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. A letter of the Tahitian alphabet, the ʼeta.

Usage notes

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In formal typesetting, the ʼeta is rotated 90 degrees. This does not have a separate Unicode character.

Tundra Nenets

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Pronunciation

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Letter

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ʼ

  1. The thirty-fifth letter of the Tundra Nenets alphabet, written in the Cyrillic script.

Usage notes

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Marks instances of the glottal stop /ʔ/ that alternate with nasal consonants н () /n/, ӈ (ŋ°) /ŋ/ in inflection, in contrast with the letter ˮ. Often transcribed h in scholarly works.

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