ʼ

See also: ◌̓, ʻ [U+02BB MODIFIER LETTER TURNED COMMA], ꞌ [U+A78C LATIN SMALL LETTER SALTILLO], ' [U+0027 APOSTROPHE], and ’ [U+2019 RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK]

ʼ U+02BC, ʼ MODIFIER LETTER APOSTROPHE ← ʻ [U+02BB] Spacing Modifier Letters ʽ → [U+02BD]

In IPA usage, the ejective mark always modifies a letter. It may be typeset larger than an apostrophe, as here.

Translingual

Etymology

Use for glottal stop derives from the apostrophe, for example in Hawaiian (now replaced by the okina to distinguish it from an actual apostrophe).

Use to mark ejective consonants started with transliteration of Georgian script; it was an adaptation of the spiritus lenis and contrasted with the spiritus asper used to mark aspirated consonants, as the most salient distinctive feature of Georgian ejectives was that they were not aspirated. Usage extended from there to other languages with ejective consonants.

Symbol

ʼ

1. (IPA) an ejective consonant

   e.g. [kʼ], [tʼ], [sʼ].

2. (UPA) glottal closure:

   E.g. kʼ is k with simultaneous glottal closure.

   mⁱeʼr or mⁱe̓r with a glottalized vowel.

   ʼeppä ʼollu with epenthetic glottal stops separating the vowels.

3. transliteration of Semitic glottal stop (aleph and hamza).

   Synonym: ʾ

Usage notes

Americanist phonetic notation may instead use a combining diacritic ⟨◌̓⟩ for ejective consonants.

Derived terms

Letters/digraphs that contain ⟨ʼ⟩:

• vowels: aʼ, eʼ, iʼ, oʼ, uʼ
• sonorantns: lʼ, mʼ, nʼ, wʼ, yʼ
• plosives: bʼ, pʼ, tʼ, ʈʼ, cʼ, kʼ, kyʼ, kwʼ, ḵʼ, ḵwʼ, kpʼ, qʼ, qʼu
• affricates: cʼ, chʼ, chwʼ, čʼ, djʼ, dsʼ, tsʼ, ʈʂʼ, tjʼ, tlʼ, tłʼ, txʼ, tẍʼ, tgʼ, tyʼ, tzʼ
• fricatives: sʼ, ʂʼ, šʼ, xʼ, ȟʼ
• clicks: ʘʼ, ǀʼ, ǀʼh, cʼ, cʼh, cgʼ, dcgʼ, ǁʼ, ǁʼh, xʼ, xʼh, xgʼ, dxgʼ, ǃʼ, ǃʼh, qʼh, qgʼ, dqgʼ, 𝼊ʼ, ‼ʼ, ǂʼ, ǂʼh, çʼ, çʼh, çgʼ, dçgʼ
• ʼb, ʼd, ʼg, ʼgh, ʼhg, ʼl, ʼm, ʼn, ʼw, ʼy

Further reading

• Modifier letter apostrophe on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Avokaya

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔ/

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. A letter of the Avokaya alphabet.

Bodo (India)

Letter

ʼ (ʼ)

1. High tone on a short vowel /ɔ/, as in बरʼ /bɔrɔ́/ 'Bodo'.

Cayuga

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔ/

Letter

ʼ

1. Alternative form of ˀ

Chamorro

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. The first letter of the Chamorro alphabet, used for the glottal stop.

Chiwere

Alternative forms

• ˀ, ^

Pronunciation

1. IPA^(key): /ʔ/

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. A letter of the Chiwere alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Chukchi

Letter

ʼ (ʼ)

1. The thirty-seventh letter of the Chukchi alphabet, written in the Cyrillic script.

See also

• (Cyrillic-script letters) А а, Б б, В в, Г г, Д д, Е е, Ё ё, Ж ж, З з, И и, Й й, К к, Ӄ ӄ, Л л, Ԓ ԓ, М м, Н н, Ӈ ӈ, О о, П п, Р р, С с, Т т, У у, Ф ф, Х х, Ц ц, Ч ч, Ш ш, Щ щ, Ъ ъ, Ы ы, Ь ь, Э э, Ю ю, Я я, ʼ

Dogri

ʼ (ʼ)

1. Low rising tone on a short vowel /ə ɪ ʊ/, e.g. लʼत्त /lə̌tː/ 'leg'.

Guaraní

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. The thirty-third letter of the Guaraní alphabet, called puso, used for the glottal stop.

Khoekhoe

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. (obsolete) the lateral clicks, modern ⟨ǁ⟩. (Besides plain ⟨ʼ⟩, it is also used for the lateral click consonants ⟨ʼk ʼg ʼn ʼh ʼkh⟩.)

   See also ꞏ, ꞉, ʻ.

Kildin Sami

Alternative forms

• Capital Һ (H), lower-case һ (h).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʰ/

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. The eleventh letter of the Kildin Sami Cyrillic alphabet

See also

• (Cyrillic-script letters) А а, А̄ а̄, Ӓ ӓ, Б б, В в, Г г, Д д, Е е, Е̄ е̄, Ё ё, Ё̄ ё̄, Ж ж, З з, Һ һ, ʼ, И и, Ӣ ӣ, Й й, Ј ј, Ҋ ҋ, К к, Л л, Ӆ ӆ, М м, Ӎ ӎ, Н н, Ӊ ӊ, Ӈ ӈ, О о, О̄ о̄, П п, Р р, Ҏ ҏ, С с, Т т, У у, Ӯ ӯ, Ф ф, Х х, Ц ц, Ч ч, Ш ш, Щ щ, Ъ ъ, Ы ы, Ь ь, Ҍ ҍ, Э э, Э̄ э̄, Ӭ ӭ, Ю ю, Ю̄ ю̄, Я я, Я̄ я̄

Kwak'wala

Alternative forms

• ʔ in Liqʼwala dialect

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔ/

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. A letter of the Kwak'wala alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• Uʼmista (Latin-script letters) A a, A̱ a̱, B b, D d, Dł dł, Dz dz, E e, G g, Gw gw, G̱ g̱, G̱w g̱w, H h, I i, K k, Kw kw, K̓ k̓, K̓w k̓w, Ḵ ḵ, Ḵw ḵw, Ḵ̓ ḵ̓, Ḵ̓w ḵ̓w, L l, ʼL ʼl, Ł ł, M m, ʼM ʼm, N n, ʼN ʼn, O o, P p, P̓ p̓, S s, T t, T̓ t̓, Tł tł, T̓ł t̓ł, Ts ts, T̓s t̓s, U u, W w, ʼW ʼw, X x, Xw xw, X̱ x̱, X̱w x̱w, Y y, ʼY ʼy, ʼ

• Liq̓ʷala (Latin-script letters) A a, Ə ə, B b, D d, Ꟛ ꟛ, Dᶻ dᶻ, E e, G g, Gʷ gʷ, Ǧ ǧ, Ǧʷ ǧʷ, H h, I i, K k, Kʷ kʷ, K̓ k̓, K̓ʷ k̓ʷ, Q q, Qʷ qʷ, Q̓ q̓, Q̓ʷ q̓ʷ, L l, L̓ l̓, Ł ł, M m, M̓ m̓, N n, N̓ n̓, O o, P p, P̓ p̓, S s, T t, T̓ t̓, Ƛ ƛ, Ƛ̓ ƛ̓, C c, C̓ c̓, U u, W w, W̓ w̓, X x, Xʷ xʷ, X̌ x̌, X̌ʷ x̌ʷ, Y y, Y̓ y̓, ʔ

Lakota

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔ/

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. A letter of the Lakota alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a (Á á), Aŋ aŋ (Áŋ áŋ), B b, Č č, Čh čh, Čʼ čʼ, E e (É é), G g, Ǧ ǧ, H h, Ȟ ȟ, Ȟʼ ȟʼ, I i (Í í), Iŋ iŋ (Íŋ íŋ), K k, Kh kh, Kȟ kȟ, Kʼ kʼ, L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó), P p, Ph ph, Pȟ pȟ, Pʼ pʼ, S s, Sʼ sʼ, Š š, Šʼ šʼ, T t, Th th, Tȟ tȟ, Tʼ tʼ, U u (Ú ú), Uŋ uŋ (Úŋ úŋ), W w, Y y, Z z, Ž ž, ʼ

Lashi

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. High-falling lexical tone.

Usage notes

A final glottal stop is unwritten on syllables with this tone. Thus aʼ transcribes both /a᷇/ and /a᷇ʔ/. Full falling tone is unmarked, except for syllables with a final glottal stop, which is transcribed ⟨,⟩.

Lhao Vo

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. High lexical tone with a final plosive consonant.

Usage notes

A final glottal stop is unwritten. Thus /a/ with a final plosive and high tone is written abʼ adʼ agʼ aʼ for [áp át ák áʔ]. High tone is written ⟨ˮ⟩ with a final vowel or nasal.

Lisu

Letter

ʼ

1. The forty-seventh letter of the Lisu alphabet.

Usage notes

• Used to indicate nasalisation and is combined with tone marks.

Mam

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔ/

Letter

ʼ

1. A letter of the Mam alphabet.

Navajo

Pronunciation

1. IPA^(key): /ʔ/

Letter

ʼ

1. The nineteenth letter of the Navajo alphabet. It is used before or after a vowel to indicate a glottal stop.

Usage notes

Every Navajo word begins with either the glottal stop or another consonant. If an orthographic vowel begins a word, it is pronounced with a glottal stop: ooljééʼ (sometimes spelled ʼooljééʼ).

⟨ʼ⟩ forms the following Navajo letters: chʼ, kʼ, tʼ, tłʼ, tsʼ.

See also

• saad niyíłtłáádígíí
• Appendix:Navajo alphabet

O'odham

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔ/

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. The letter of the O'odham alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Pilagá

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔ/

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. A letter of the Pilagá alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B̶ b̶, Č č, D d, E e, G g, ꟎ ꟏, H h, I i, K k, L l, Ꟛ ꟛ, M m, N n, Ñ ñ, O o, P p, Q q, S s, T t, W w, Y y, ʼ

Seneca

Alternative forms

• ´

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔ/

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. The letter of the Seneca alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Somali

Pronunciation

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /ʔ/
• (letter name): IPA^(key): /alef/

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. The first letter of the Somali alphabet, called alef and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

• This is the first letter of the Somali alphabet, which follows Arabic abjad order. It is followed by B. It is rarely used in the initial position.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) ʼ, B b, T t, J j, X x, Kh kh, D d, R r, S s, Sh sh, Dh dh, C c, G g, F f, Q q, K k, L l, M m, N n, W w, H h, Y y, A a, E e, I i, O o, U u

Tabasaran

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. The forty-eighth letter of the Tabasaran alphabet, written in the Cyrillic script.

See also

• (Cyrillic-script letters) А а, Аь аь, Б б, В в, Г г, Гъ гъ, Гь гь, Д д, Е е, Ё ё, Ж ж, З з, И и, Й й, К к, Къ къ, Кь кь, Кӏ кӏ, Л л, М м, Н н, О о, П п, Пӏ пӏ, Р р, С с, Т т, Тӏ тӏ, У у, Уь уь, Ф ф, Х х, Хъ хъ, Хь хь, Ц ц, Цӏ цӏ, Ч ч, Чӏ чӏ, Ш ш, Щ щ, Ъ ъ, Ы ы, Ь ь, Э э, Ю ю, Я я, ӏ ӏ, ʼ

Tahitian

The Tahitian ʼeta

Alternative forms

• ⟨ʻ⟩

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /ʔ/
• (letter) IPA^(key): /ʔeta/

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. A letter of the Tahitian alphabet, the ʻeta.

Usage notes

In formal typesetting, the ʼeta is rotated 90 degrees. This does not have a separate Unicode character.

All Tahitian lemmas on Wiktionary use the ʻokina ⟨ʻ⟩ as the Unicode character for this letter.

Tundra Nenets

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /ʔ/

Letter

ʼ (no case)

1. The thirty-fifth letter of the Tundra Nenets alphabet, written in the Cyrillic script.

Usage notes

Marks instances of the glottal stop /ʔ/ that alternate with nasal consonants н (n°) /n/, ӈ (ŋ°) /ŋ/ in inflection, in contrast with the letter ˮ. Often transcribed h in scholarly works.

See also

• (Cyrillic-script letters) А а, Б б, В в, Г г, Д д, Е е, Ё ё, Ж ж, З з, И и, Й й, К к, Л л, М м, Н н, Ӈ ӈ, О о, П п, Р р, С с, Т т, У у, Ф ф, Х х, Ц ц, Ч ч, Ш ш, Щ щ, Ъ ъ, Ы ы, Ь ь, Э э, Ю ю, Я я, ʼ, ˮ