Glottis
The glottis is a very specific term that actually is used to describe the space that is found between the vocal chords. The vocal chords, as we know, are responsible for our speech. But there are some sounds in language that use the glottis. What this means is that there are some things that do not require sound at all. This is called a glottal stop. When we abruptly cut off our air flow and our speech, the glottis gets involved and the noise that emits is called a glottal stop. As an example, say the phrase ‘uh oh’ just like a little kid would. To generate that phrase you need to activate your throat muscles. The glottis is involved with creating this phrase.
To understand more of the glottis there are several things you can do. First, you can read about the anatomy of the glottis and try to apply it to when you speak or sing. You may notice that the glottis gives things a different character. You can also look online or work with a vocal or speech coach to make sure you understand exactly what you need to do to activate the glottis. We may not realize this, but the glottis is used in several different situations.
If you are having a hard time visualizing how the glottis is used you may want to work with a speech coach or voice coach. They can have you say sentences and phrases that use the glottal stop a lot. In fact, working with a coach who understands speech and who has had phonetics training is the best. There are more examples than you realize of this for the English language.
Other languages, such as German, use the glottis even more. But English’s use of it could be a throwback from the earlier stages of the language itself. If you want to really hear the glottis in use you could listen to some German or maybe even learn and speak some German. Other languages use it as well but it seems as if the Germanic language family uses it more. To learn about the glottis be sure to read the encyclopedia and also to look online.
