Unit 18: Glottal Fricative

Unit 18 — Glottal Fricative /h/

The sound /h/ is the simplest fricative in English. It is voiceless and produced at the glottis (the space between the vocal folds, deep in the throat). There is no tongue shape and no lip shape to learn — just a controlled exhale.

How to make /h/:

• Open your mouth in a relaxed, neutral position.
• Push a small puff of air out from the throat, as if fogging up a mirror.
• Keep the vocal folds open — no buzzing or vibration.
• The mouth usually anticipates the following vowel (e.g. /h/ in he has a smile shape; /h/ in who is rounded).

Spelling: Almost always written with the letter h (house, hat, behind).

Pitfalls:

• Silent h in hour, honest, honor, heir — do not pronounce.
• In rapid, connected speech /h/ often drops in unstressed pronouns: tell him → /tel ɪm/, give her → /gɪv ər/.