Saltillo (linguistics)

In Mexican linguistics, saltillo (Spanish, meaning "little skip") is the word for a glottal stop consonant (IPA: [ʔ]). The name was given by the early grammarians of Classical Nahuatl. In a number of other Nahuan languages, the sound cognate to the glottal stop of Classical Nahuatl is [h], and the term saltillo is applied to either pronunciation. The saltillo is often written with an apostrophe, though it is sometimes written ⟨h⟩ for either pronunciation, or ⟨j⟩ when pronounced [h]. The spelling of the glottal stop with an apostrophe-like character most likely originates from transliterations of the Arabic hamza. It has also been written with a grave accent over the preceding vowel in some Nahuatl works, following Horacio Carochi (1645).

Saltillo (linguistics)

In Mexican linguistics, saltillo (Spanish, meaning "little skip") is the word for a glottal stop consonant (IPA: [ʔ]). The name was given by the early grammarians of Classical Nahuatl. In a number of other Nahuan languages, the sound cognate to the glottal stop of Classical Nahuatl is [h], and the term saltillo is applied to either pronunciation. The saltillo is often written with an apostrophe, though it is sometimes written ⟨h⟩ for either pronunciation, or ⟨j⟩ when pronounced [h]. The spelling of the glottal stop with an apostrophe-like character most likely originates from transliterations of the Arabic hamza. It has also been written with a grave accent over the preceding vowel in some Nahuatl works, following Horacio Carochi (1645).