As a linguistic expert with a focus on phonetics and phonology, I'm delighted to delve into the intricacies of glottal stops and their voicing characteristics.

Glottal stops are a type of consonantal sound that involves a complete closure of the vocal folds, which results in a complete halt of the airflow. This closure is the defining feature of the glottal stop, and it's what sets it apart from other consonants. The vocal folds come together tightly enough to prevent any air from passing through, creating a brief moment of silence in speech.

The concept of voicing in phonetics refers to the vibration of the vocal folds during the production of a sound. For a sound to be voiced, the vocal folds must vibrate and allow air to pass through them, creating a buzzing or humming quality. Given that the glottal stop involves a complete closure of the vocal folds, it logically follows that it cannot be voiced in its pure form. The vocal folds are tightly shut, and no air can pass through to create vibration.

However, the notion of a "voiced glottal stop" is not unheard of in linguistic discussions. This term typically refers to a sound that is not a true glottal stop but rather a voiced glottal approximant, which is a sound produced with the vocal folds slightly open, allowing a small amount of air to pass through with some vibration. This sound can be represented by the phonetic symbol [ʔ̬]. It's important to note that this is not a full glottal stop but a variant that occurs in certain phonetic environments.

In many languages, what is described as a voiced glottal stop actually appears as an intervocalic allophone of the glottal stop. An allophone is a variation of a phoneme that occurs in different environments without changing the meaning of the word. In this case, the voiced glottal approximant [ʔ̬] may occur between vowels where a full glottal stop [ʔ] would be too abrupt or would disrupt the flow of speech. This approximant is often described as "creaky voiced," indicating a low pitch and a loose glottal closure that allows for some vibration.

It's also worth mentioning that the perception of a voiced glottal stop can be influenced by the surrounding sounds and the language's phonetic inventory. In some languages, what might be perceived as a voiced glottal stop could actually be the result of coarticulation, where the articulatory settings for adjacent sounds influence each other, creating a sound that seems to have voicing even though the glottal stop itself does not.

In summary, while the pure glottal stop is inherently unvoiced due to the complete closure of the vocal folds, there are instances in language where a voiced variant, more accurately described as a voiced glottal approximant, can occur. This happens particularly in intervocalic positions and is influenced by the phonetic context and the language's phonological system. Understanding these nuances is crucial for a deeper comprehension of phonetic phenomena and the way sounds are produced and perceived in human speech.

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Because the glottis is necessarily closed for the glottal stop, it cannot be voiced. So-called voiced glottal stops are not full stops, but rather creaky voiced glottal approximants that may be transcribed [??]. They occur as the intervocalic allophone of glottal stop in many languages.read more >>