It's the "-" in "Uh-Oh"

Luzius writes, "I'm a PhD student in Historical Linguistics in Zürich, and I've got a glottal stop tattoo on the pinkie of my left hand. It is one of the letters of the International Phonetic Alphabet and it designates a specific consonant occuring in many languages of the world. To articulate a glottal stop, you need to stop the airflow by pressing your vocal cords together, build up pressure from the lungs, and then release the vocal cords with an audible burst. Many dialects of English have a glottal stop instead of /t/ in words like /cat/ or /butter/. It is common in German, too, where you can hear it in front in front of words starting with a vowel, like /Anna/ or /Eis/. I chose this tattoo because it represents my passion for linguistics, and because typograhpy in general, and the shape of this letter in particular, appeals to my sense of aesthetics."

Comments

[BigD145]

That one sound will get you far in reproducing accents.

[Xenobiologista]

In the example given in the post, is it like how some people from the UK say "bu'er" instead of "butter"?

[James]

I think I've found my next tattoo.

I'm originally from Hartlepool in the North East of England. It's in an area called Teesside and our accent has a pronounced glottal stop. I'll cut a long story short; In England northerners are often seen as poor, unsophisticated and less intelligent than people from the south.

For many years of my life, I felt being marked out as a northerner by my accent (and then judged) was a disadvantage. I've slowly learned that my accent is an advantage. Most people remember me because of it... SOME people underestimate me because of it and being underestimated is a distinct advantage in life.

The symbol is a great way of representing my home, my family and my background