Knacklaut
Glottal Stop (Knacklaut)
The Knacklaut /ʔ/ is a brief stop before vowels at word and morpheme boundaries. 'beachten' = be-ʔachten (not 'beach-ten'). 'Spiegelei' = Spiegel-ʔei. It's standard in careful speech and separates compound parts and prefixes from vowel-initial stems.
Sounds
| IPA | Beispiel | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| /ʔ/ word initial | ʔEis | ice |
| /ʔ/ compound | Spiegel-ʔei | fried egg |
| /ʔ/ prefix | be-ʔachten | to observe |
Minimal Pairs
verreisen
to travel
vereisen
to ice over
Tips
Think of the pause before 'uh-oh' in English — that little stop is a glottal stop.
Use it before vowel-initial words and after prefixes to keep speech clear.
Common Mistakes
Linking words together like French
Related Sounds
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