Re: Sounds in Conlangs

On Wed, 17 Nov 2004 05:58:57 -0800, bob thornton <arcanesock@...> wrote:

>--- Andreas Johansson <andjo@...> wrote:
>
>> Quoting Tristan Mc Leay
>> <conlang@...>:
>>
>> > I
>> > don't _really_ know why the epiglottal sounds don't live in the table
>> > up top, though.
>>
>> Admission time; I never understood what epiglottals
>> were. Where are they
>> pronounced, more exactly? What's the epiglottis?
>>
>
>The epiglottis is, for lack of a better term, the
>dangly down thing in the back of your throat. Stoppers
>up the nose so you can swallow properly.
That thing you can see is the uvula. The epiglottis is also required for
swallowing. It doesn't close the nose, but the lungs. It can be seen (but
unfortunately not moved) e.g. on the following page as a small thing behind
the tongue pointing upwards:

http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~danhall/phonetics/sammy.html

gry@s:
j. 'mach' wust

Reply