Re: Ejectives, was Re: New H/G lang?

Grandsire, C.A. wrote:

>         How do you do that? I maybe glottis-disabled but I can't move my
> glottis, or anything further back in the mouth than the uvula,
> voluntarily. This only thing I can control is voicing and making a
> glottal stop. And even then, I don't know if I'm able to do a creaky
> voice. How do you do all to be able to make those sounds? Is there a
> special training to have?
The book _A Practical Introduction to Phonetics_ by J.C. Catford
gives instructions on producing just about any sound you've ever heard
of.  I highly recommend it.

I spent some time with it today and am no longer convinced my
ejectives are pathological (the explanation of why I was unable to
even attempt an ejective nasal I won't go into right now).

Catford suggests this: your glottis raises and lowers naturally when
you sing a high or low note.  Put your fingers on your neck and sing
as high and low an [a] as you are capable of.  Feel something moving
up and down?  That's your larynx, which is where your glottis is
located.  Practice this until you can make it move up and down without
actually singing -- by *imagining* you are producing a high and low
note.

Then, to produce an ejective, you need to lower the glottis and make
a glottal stop, form a [k] closure with your tongue, and then raise
the glottis.  Then release the velar closure, and you will hear a
short sharp voiceless K.  That's an ejective.  You can then generalize
this to [t], [p], affricates, and very short fricatives.

See if those instructions are any help!

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Ed doesn't know everything, but he hasn't figured that out yet.
Please break it to him gently.              edheil@postmark.net
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