See also: ◌̓ and '

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

Translingual edit

Etymology edit

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 edit

 
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 edit

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

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

Avokaya edit

Pronunciation edit

Letter edit

ʼ

  1. A letter of the Avokaya alphabet.

Bodo (India) edit

Letter edit

ʼ (ʼ)

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

Cayuga edit

Pronunciation edit

Letter edit

ʼ

  1. Alternative form of ˀ

Chamorro edit

Letter edit

ʼ

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

Chiwere edit

Alternative forms edit

Pronunciation edit

  1. IPA(key): /ʔ/

Letter edit

ʼ

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

Chukchi edit

Letter edit

ʼ (ʼ)

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

See also edit

Dogri edit

ʼ (ʼ)

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

Guaraní edit

Letter edit

ʼ

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

Khoekhoe edit

Letter edit

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 edit

Alternative forms edit

  • ʔ in Liqʼwala dialect

Pronunciation edit

Letter edit

ʼ

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

Lakota edit

Pronunciation edit

Letter edit

ʼ

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

See also edit

Lashi edit

Letter edit

ʼ

  1. High-falling lexical tone.

Usage notes edit

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 edit

Letter edit

ʼ

  1. High lexical tone with a final plosive consonant.

Usage notes edit

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 edit

Letter edit

ʼ

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

Usage notes edit

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

Mam edit

Pronunciation edit

Letter edit

ʼ

  1. A letter of the Mam alphabet.

Navajo edit

Pronunciation edit

  1. IPA(key): /ʔ/

Letter edit

ʼ

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

Usage notes edit

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 edit

O'odham edit

Pronunciation edit

Letter edit

ʼ

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

Seneca edit

Alternative forms edit

Pronunciation edit

Letter edit

ʼ

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

Somali edit

Pronunciation edit

Letter edit

ʼ

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

Usage notes edit

  • 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 edit

Tabasaran edit

Letter edit

ʼ

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

See also edit

Tundra Nenets edit

Pronunciation edit

Letter edit

ʼ

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

Usage notes edit

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.

See also edit