Glottal stop

The glottal stop is one of the most frequent letters used in the Cheyenne language. A glottal stop is the quick stopping of sound created when the flap of skin in the throat voicebox called the glottis closes the air flow so no sound passes through. There are a number of words in Cheyenne which are different by whether or not they have the glottal stop:

 ' (glottal stop)
With glottal: Without glottal:
he'ama up heama on the side
nahko'e Mother! nahkohe bear
he'e liver hee Oh?!
he'e'hame mares heehame her husband
ma'estoo'o pillow maestoo'o throat
ma'ome ice emaome sweatlodge
eho'esta He whooped. ehoesta He read it.

eho'ehne He came.
ehoehne He went out.

eše'šeotse He woke up.
ešešeotse It came loose.

eho'xeotse He got used to it.
ehoxeotse It got rotten.

evo'neotse It dawned.
evoneotse It disappeared.

nėhe'še then
nėhešeha Tell that to him!

ve'ho'e whiteman
eveho'e He sang praise.



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