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LING 2110 Phonetics

Lecture 3 Voice

1. Vocal Anatomy
Label the mid-sagittal section with the parts of the vocal anatomy listed below:
• Lungs – the most common source of the moving air which produces speech
• Trachea – the tube connecting the lungs and the vocal tract
• Larynx – the structure containing the vocal folds
• Pharynx – the tube leading from the larynx past the oral cavity to the nasal cavity
• Oral Cavity – the main resonating chamber of the vocal tract
• Nasal Cavity – the resonating chamber for nasal sounds

Supraglottal/
Supralaryngeal
Cavities

Subglottal Cavities

Figure 1: Mid-Sagittal Section of Vocal Tract (also known as vocal tract drawings)

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Figure 2: A schematic representation of the vocal apparatus (Hewlett and Beck 2006: 17)

A recap of the source-filter theory of speech: For every sound, the following aspects of production must
be considered:
- The creation of the airstream: Which organ generates the moving stream of air? What is the
direction of airflow?
- The phonation: What is the position of the vocal folds? What is the linguistic effect?
- The articulation: Which articulators are out of their default position? How are they articulating with
one another?

2. Airstream Mechanism
In the most common airstream mechanism for producing speech, pulmonic egressive, the lungs create a
moving airstream by pushing air outwards through the trachea to the larynx and above, into the
supralaryngeal cavities.

Pulmonic from Latin pulmon- ‘lung’ -ic Adj./N

Egressive from Latin e- ‘out’ gress ‘go’ -ive Adj.

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3. Phonation Process

Figure 3: A diagrammatic view of the vocal apparatus (Hewlett and Beck 2006: 18)
The larynx is composed of pieces of cartilage and the vocal folds, which are bands of tissue that are
attached to the thyroid cartilage and the two arytenoid cartilages. The space in between the vocal folds
is called the glottis.

Figure 4: Side and Top View of Larynx (adapted from Rogers 2000: 234-5)

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Figure 5: Motion at the cricothyroid joint. (modified from Marchal 2007: 33)

The position of the vocal folds may be manipulated by the speaker, resulting in different types of
phonation, phonation being “the use of the laryngeal system, with the help of an airstream provided by
the respiratory system, to generate an audible source of acoustic energy which can then be modified by
the articulatory actions of the rest of the vocal apparatus” (Laver 1994: 184) Phonation refers to the
articulatory activities of the vocal folds, based on their degree of approximation1, and their phonetic
effects.
Sounds produced without vocal fold vibration are termed voiceless, while those with vocal fold vibration
are voiced. What are the correct IPA symbols for the underlined segments? Are they voiced or
voiceless?

Word: zero uncle yogurt they match

Voicing: ______ ______ ______ ______ ______

Transcription: ______ ______ ______ ______ ______

3.1. Voicing

Figure 6: Simplified model of the larynx (Collins and Mees 2013: 32)

1
The degree of approximation here relates to how close together the vocal folds are.

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Vocal Fold Position: Widely abducted Adducted Tightly Adducted

(pulmonic airstream is blocked)
Arytenoid Position: Abducted Adducted Adducted
Phonation Type: Voicelessness Voiced Glottal stop [ʔ]
(not a phonation type)
Figure 7: Vocal Fold Positions (Collins and Mees 2013: 32-34)

The vocal folds are held close together, so they vibrate as pulmonic air passes through. Note that it is
the vocal folds that vibrate, not the false vocal folds, also called the ventricular folds. What causes the
vibration?

Figure 8: Cross-sectional view of the larynx from behind. (Rogers 2000: 235)

The myoelastic aerodynamic theory of phonation, which combines the Bernoulli effect with an
understanding of the internal elastic forces of muscles of the vocal folds, has been used to explain how
vocal fold vibration occurs.
The Bernoulli effect2 states that a laminar3 stream of air moving through a narrow gap moves faster,
producing an area of low pressure (a vacuum). Objects from the side of the stream are pulled inwards to
the area of low pressure.
When the vocal folds are held together, the subglottal pressure increases as the pulmonic egressive
airstream continues. Once the pressure reaches a certain threshold, the vocal folds are pushed apart.
The air rushes through and an area of low pressure is created, pulling the vocal folds back together due
to the Bernoulli effect, combined with the natural elasticity of the vocal folds. Once they are pulled
together, the Bernoulli effect ends. Because the airstream continues, the pressure again rises behind the
closed vocal folds and the cycle repeats.
The vocal folds have vertical mass, resulting in different areas simultaneously being in different cycles of
opening/closing. While the bottom of the folds is closing, the top is opening, and vice versa, which
allows for the complete closure of the vocal folds during the vibratory cycle.

2
Note that the Bernoulli effect is relevant for any phonation with vocal fold vibration.
3
A laminar flow is when the movement is smooth and parallel, without turbulence.

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Figure 9: Schematic representation of vertical phase differences in the cross-sectional configuration of

the vocal folds in one cycle of voiced vibration (Laver 1994: 193)

3.2. Voicelessness
Voiceless sounds have no vocal fold vibration. There are several ways to prevent vocal fold vibration
including the following:
- the vocal folds are tightly adducted and pulmonic air is prevented from passing through, as in a
glottal stop [ʔ];
- the vocal folds are abducted and air flows through in a laminar stream, without creating vibration.
In both of these cases, no sound is generated at the larynx.
- If the airstream passes though abducted vocal folds at a higher speed or if the glottis is somewhat
narrowed, then turbulence will occur, creating sound at the glottis as in [h]. Because there is no
vocal fold vibration, [h] is voiceless.
While many languages contrast voiced and voiceless consonants, some sounds, such as vowels, are
rarely phonemically4 voiceless but may become so based on their environment.
Commonly occurring voiceless sounds have specific IPA symbols. To indicate other less common
voiceless sounds, the IPA symbol for the voiced segment is used with an open circle diacritic
underneath, unless the symbol has a descender, in which case the diacritic is placed above the symbol.

Transcribing voiceless segments: [p] voiceless bilabial stop, [m̥ ] voiceless bilabial nasal, [ŋ̊] voiceless
velar nasal

4
Sounds which are phonemic are those which are contrastive in a given language and can be substituted for
another to change the meaning of a word.

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Figure 10: States of the glottis: voicelessness; quiet breathing; deep breathing (Rogers 2000: 237, 240)

Figure 11: Configurations of the vocal folds in mid-sagittal sections: [h] voicelessness; [ɦ] voicing; [ʔ]
glottal stop (adapted from Interactive Sagittal Section http://smu-facweb.smu.ca/~s0949176/sammy/)

4. Acoustics
Sound waves are produced by a source that creates air particle movement, which for voiced sounds is
the regular vibration of the vocal folds as pulmonic egressive air passes through them. When air
particles move closer to or farther from other air particles, they create changes in pressure at a given
point. The changes in pressure over time can be recorded. A waveform is a graph of the changes in
amplitude (air pressure) over time with the horizontal axis representing time and the vertical axis
changes in pressure, which are perceived as changes in loudness. The cycle is one complete occurrence
of the wave pattern and the period is the time taken for one cycle. The number of cycles in a second is
known as the frequency, measured in Hertz (Hz) and relates to the pitch of the sound.

Figure 12: A 100 Hz sine wave with the duration of one cycle (the period) and the peak amplitude
labeled. (Johnson 2012: 11).

Figure 13 is a glottal waveform, the acoustic output measured at the larynx created by the opening and
closing of the vocal folds. Because it has a regular repeating pattern, it is a periodic waveform.

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Figure 13: The glottal wave (Rogers 2000: 142).

Figure 14: The vowel [ɑ] as in father and the vowel [i] as in see. (Ladefoged 2001: 32)
Because frequency is the number of cycles per second, if one cycle of a wave takes 10 ms/0.01 sec, as
shown in figure 12, then 100 repetitions could occur in a second and the wave has the frequency of 100
Hz (Hz is the unit for frequency and refers to the number of cycles per second). In the second wave the
cycle can occur three times in the same period of time so 300 repetitions will occur in a second and the
wave has the frequency of 300 Hz.

1 sec = 1000 ms 0.1 sec = 100 ms 0.01 sec = 10 ms 0.001 sec = 1 ms

Formula for calculating frequency: f= 1 T is the period, in seconds

T

Try to re-write the following in conventional English orthography. Answers next week on the Class
Discussion Board. Feel free to post possible responses on the Class Discussion Board.

[vɪlən

əɹɪd͡ʒənl ̩ dɛfənɪʃn̩: sʌmwʌn fɹəm ðə kʌntɹi; sʌmwʌn puɹ; sʌmwʌn “loʊ̯-bɔɹn”

nu dɛfənɪʃn̩: ə bæd ɡaɪ ̯ ɪn ə bʊk, muvi, pleɪ ̯, ɛtsɛtəɹə

sun æftɚ ðə wɚd bɪɡæn tʊ əpɪɹ ɪn ðə θɚtin hʌndɹədz, ɪt bɪɡæn tə teɪ ̯k ɑn ə mɔɹ dɪstɪŋktli
pəd͡ʒɔɹətɪv kɑnəteɪ ̯ʃən. sʌmwʌn puɹ ənd ʌnkʌlt͡ʃɚd bɪkeɪ ̯m əsoʊ̯sieɪ ̯təd wɪθ sʌmwʌn beɪ ̯s
ənd ɪmɔɹəl. ðʌs ə “vɪlən” wɑzənt d͡ʒəst sʌmwʌn fɹʌm “ðə stɪks,” hi wəz sʌmwʌn vaɪ ̯l
ənd loʊ̯ðsəm]

Next lecture: Place of Articulation

Lecture 3 8