Knacklaut

German

Etymology

knacken +‎ Laut

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈknakˌlaʊ̯t/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

Knacklaut m (strong, genitive Knacklauts or Knacklautes, plural Knacklaute)

1. (phonetics) glottal stop

   Synonyms: Glottisschlag, Glottalplosiv, Kehlkopfverschluss, Kehlkopfverschlusslaut

   1. (especially) a glottal stop found in null onsets (vowel-initial stems) in German and other languages

Usage notes

• It is often claimed that Standard German automatically inserts a glottal stop in null onsets, but this is a myth. Any initial glottal stop may be elided in everyday speech. While such pronunciations may be considered substandard, they by themselves belie the claim of an automatic glottal stop. More importantly, however, glottal stops in unstressed onsets are entirely optional and more often than not elided even in formal, careful standard speech.

Declension

Declension of Knacklaut [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Knacklaut	die	Knacklaute
genitive	eines	des	Knacklauts, Knacklautes	der	Knacklaute
dative	einem	dem	Knacklaut, Knacklaute1	den	Knacklauten
accusative	einen	den	Knacklaut	die	Knacklaute

¹Now rare, see notes.

Further reading

• “Knacklaut” in Duden online
• “Knacklaut” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache