Glottide

Glottide is a term used in phonetics and phonology to denote a glottal constriction at the larynx. The word derives from glottis, the opening between the vocal folds, and the suffix -ide used to form technical labels. In practice, glottal gestures are categorized by the degree and timing of constriction at the glottis, most notably the glottal stop.

The prototypical glottide is the glottal stop, represented in the IPA by [ʔ]. It results from a complete closure of the vocal folds followed by a release, and it is typically voiceless. Glottal stops can function as a phoneme in some languages or as an allophonic realization of adjacent sounds, and they commonly occur at syllable boundaries or before vowels.

Other glottide phenomena include glottal fricatives, such as [h], produced with a continuous, partial closure of the glottis; and glottalized or creaky-voiced vowels, in which the glottis remains constricted during vowel production. Glottide effects can interact with stress, syllable structure, and phonation type across languages.

In phonological analysis, glottides may be described as phonemic contrasts in some languages, or as phonetic gestures accompanying other segments in others. The study of glottides informs understanding of laryngeal phonetics and the range of articulations achievable at the glottic level.