Glottal stop at the beginning of a word?

[Ngawng]

Kaltxì

I was just reading a thread about common mistakes that beginners should avoid...and there was a part about how if there is supposed to be an apostrophe (indicating a glottal stop) at the start of a word, you must not forget to put it there.

I was wondering....when you are speaking the word, let's say 'eveng, how is it pronounced differently to, say, eltu?

[NeotrekkerZ]

Try saying "uh-oh" a few times.  Feel how your throat/mouth subtly change between the "uh" and the "oh?"  Ok, now say it again but freeze right there in the middle of the word, between uh and oh.  From here say 'eveng.  Compare to eltu afterwards.

[Ngawng]

Irayo ma Neo

[NeotrekkerZ]

ke'uyä

[Tseyk Tìriuä]

It is definitely more noticeable AFTER the word the proceeds.  Oeyä 'evi.  Kinda like "Oeyä'evi". Practice that and eventually you will be able to do it at the start of words.

[tsyal aymokriyä]

Hello,
I'm having some trouble with the stop too.

I asked my teacher, who took phonetics before, and he said that many English words have glottis stop too, such as "apple" and "other".

According to him, what happens when you say uh-oh is that the glottis (roughly where adam's apple is) contracts a little(the apple moves upwards) so the air flow from the lungs is interrupted.

Compare the two words "other" and "ongoing" notice the second o releases more air than the previous one?

Don't know if this helps but form a circle with both of your thumbs and second fingers. This would be the starting shape of your glottis. When you enunciate the o from "others", the glottis contracts and the circle changes into a water drop shape. That's pretty much the mechanic side of the stop.

Glottis stop certainly sounds like a pause from time to time. However there's something happening mechanically... so technically it's not a pause. It is the shape of the glottis that makes the difference in sound.

I'm still trying different methods of projecting a glottis stop sound. Feel free to comment or suggest something.

Eywa Ngahu

[Txur’Itan]

ke'uyä

You should post that to the language expansion thread.  I think that is very similar to what I was borrowing from Spanish.