Phonation exercises

Develop your perception, production and understanding of the various states of the glottis by practising all the phonation types in initial, medial and final positions:
 



Initial
Medial
Final
1. Glottal stop  

Ɂɑ

ɑɁɑ

ɑɁ
2. Creaky voice

ɑ̰ɑ

ɑɑ̰ɑ

ɑɑ̰
3. Breathy voice

ɦɑ

ɑɦɑ

ɑɦ
4. Whisper/voicelessness

hɑ
ɑhɑ

ɑh

Some real words to practise (note that the acute accent indicates high pitch):
 

Shona (western)
  
English gloss   

Shona (eastern)  
English gloss








láha
to throw away
  
mɦépó
wind
kúɦa
to come

femɦá
to smell
ɦála
to be full

femá
to breathe
hoko
monkey

mɦuká
animal





muká
to get up





nɦáŋga
pumpkin





naŋgá
peace

Audio examples:
 

1. Glottal stop  
Arabic `asked'  saɁala  
 



Hebrew `light'  Ɂor














2. Creaky voice
Mazatec `buttocks'  ndǽ
vs. plain voiced `seed'
 thǽ
3. Breathy voice
Mazatec `horse'  ndǽ






Dutch hoed `hat'  ɦut






Hindi `brow'

 bɦɑl
vs. plain voiced `hair'
 bɑl


Hindi `knife edge'   d̪ɦɑ ɾ
vs. `lentil'

 d̪ɑl


Hindi `bundle'  gɦɑn
vs. `cheek'
 gɑl










4. Whisper/voicelessness
Japanese kuttsukemashita 
`pressed-attached'

  kɯ̥tːs ɯ̥kema ʃi̥ta




The Mazatec examples were downloaded from the UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. The other examples are from a database of audio examples relating to the IPA Handbook, at the University of Victoria, Canada.