Voice Quality Symbols

Voice Quality Symbols (VoQS) are a set of phonetic symbols used for voice quality, for example when transcribing disordered speech.

VoQS symbols are normally combined with curly braces that span a section of speech, just as with prosody notation in the extended IPA. The symbols may be modified with a digit to convey relative degree of the quality. For example, ⟨V!⟩ is used for harsh voice, and {3V! ... 3V!} indicates that the intervening speech is very harsh. ⟨L̞⟩ indicates a lowered larynx, so {L̞1V! ... 1V!L̞} indicates that the intervening speech is less harsh with a lowered larynx.

VoQS use mostly IPA or extended IPA diacritics on capital letters for the element being modified: V for 'voice', L for 'larynx', J for 'jaw'. Degree is marked 1 for slight, 2 for moderate, and 3 for extreme.

Symbols

The following combinations of letters and diacritics are used. They indicate an airstream mechanism, phonation or secondary articulation across a stretch of speech. For example, 'palatalized voice' indicates palatalization of the segment of speech spanned by the braces.