Re: Ejectives (was: Is this a realistic phonology?)

Yes.  To learn to pronounce an ejective, see if you can successfully say
the letter "k" without allowing any air to escape your lungs.  (if you
try this with "t" or "p" it will be too tempting to try to force air
from the velum rather than from the glottis, but if you're using the
velum for a point of articulation, you have no other option.) Doing so
successfully will result in an ejective k (k').

It's essentially a K followed by a glottal stop -- but the glottis must
be closed already when the K is pronounced.

Having mastered an ejective k, ejective p, t, or whatever should be easy
to produce by analogy.

Ed


>From: John Cowan <cowan@...>
>Reply-To: Constructed Languages List <CONLANG@...>
>To: Multiple recipients of list CONLANG <CONLANG@...>
>Subject: Re: Ejectives (was: Is this a realistic phonology?)
>Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1999 10:24:40 -0500
>
>I wrote:
>
>> > Sahla Autumn Yasmin Ajinqwai wrote:
>> >
>> > > What is an ejective?
>> >
>> > Essentially a reverse click.  Both ejective and click involve
>> > using a velar closure to block off the airway, but in an ejective,
>> > the air in the mouth is compressed and forced out, whereas in a
>> > click, the air in the mouth is rarefied and new air forced in.
>
>A private correspondent notes that in ejectives, the point of
>closure is the glottis, not the velum, so ejectives are not
>quite reverse clicks for this reason.
>
>--
>John Cowan      http://www.ccil.org/~cowan              cowan@ccil.org
>        You tollerday donsk?  N.  You tolkatiff scowegian?  Nn.
>        You spigotty anglease?  Nnn.  You phonio saxo?  Nnnn.
>                Clear all so!  'Tis a Jute.... (Finnegans Wake 16.5)
>
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