ejectives and the glottal stop

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Paul Frommer's
Language Workbook

[Will Txankamuse]

I'm finding when I pronounce my ejectives (tx, px, kx) that, purely because they voiceless, I find myself closing my throat and end up doing something akin to a glottal stop in the middle of the word I'm saying.  I noticed no words in Na'vi have the glottal stop before or after an ejective, so maybe it can safely be considered just a side effect of saying it.

It was interesting that at some point in some document somewhere (survival guide?), skxawng was being spelled skx’awng - perhaps this is a related side effect?

is that what other people are experiencing too?  Is it wrong?

Will

[kewnya txamew'itan]

An ejective is a normal tongue based stop/plosive at the same time as a glottal stop so what you're doing is correct.

[whipback]

  I can't figure out the ejectives.  It isn't that I haven't heard them pronounced because I use this site for it: http://www.paulmeier.com/ipa/charts.html but I just can't make them right.  My ejectives always turn out to be clicks...

[Atan'eveng]

Listening to Frommer`s letter on Ma Sempul is very helpful. Try reading along, by doing this you'll be reading na'vi stuff in no time.=)

[kewnya txamew'itan]

  I can't figure out the ejectives.  It isn't that I haven't heard them pronounced because I use this site for it: http://www.paulmeier.com/ipa/charts.html but I just can't make them right.  My ejectives always turn out to be clicks...

The way Frommer explains them might be helpful.

For tx, try saying a t as loudly as you can with your breath held, it should be an ejective.

For px and kx, do the same thing but with p and k not t.