glottalization

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noun

The act or process of constricting or closing the glottis during the production of a speech sound that normally does not involve such constriction.

“Examples of glottalization include creaky voice, and the interrupted tones of Vietnamese.”

OriginEnglish glottal ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← New Latin glōttis →
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Meanings

nounglottalization (countable and uncountable, plural glottalizations)

plural glottalizations

  1. countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe act or process of constricting or closing the glottis during the production of a speech sound that normally does not involve such constriction.

    Examples of glottalization include creaky voice, and the interrupted tones of Vietnamese.

  2. countableuncountablehuman sciencesTransformation of a consonant into a glottal stop or fricative.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekγλωττῐ́ς (glōttĭ́s)
  2. New Latinglōttis
  3. Englishglottis
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  6. Englishglottal
  7. Englishglottalization

From glottal or -ization.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

glottalization. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glottalization

MLA

“glottalization.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glottalization. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “glottalization,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/glottalization.

Source: glottalization on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.