Phonation

1. Phonation
The utterance of sounds through the use of the vocal cords; vocalization.

-rapid, periodic opening and closing of the glottis through separation and apposition of the vocal
cords that, accompanied by breath under lung pressure, constitutes a source of vocal sound.
2.
(not in technical use) voice; vocalization.
Compare voice (defs 15, 16)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The term phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics.
Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain
sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the definition used among those who study
laryngeal anatomy and physiology and speech production in general. Phoneticians in other
subfields, such as linguistic phonetics, call this process voicing, and use the term phonation to
refer to any oscillatory state of any part of the larynx that modifies the airstream, of which
voicing is just one example. Voiceless and supra-glottal phonations are included under this
definition.
Contents
 1 Voicing
o 1.1 Myoelastic and aerodynamic theory
o 1.2 Neurochronaxic theory
 2 State of the glottis
o 2.1 Glottal consonants
 3 Supra-glottal phonation
 4 Familiar language examples
 5 Vocal registers
o 5.1 Phonology
o 5.2 Pedagogy and speech pathology
 6 See also
 7 References
 8 External links
Voicing

2. The phonatory process, or voicing, occurs when air is expelled from the lungs through the glottis,
creating a pressure drop across the larynx. When this drop becomes sufficiently large, the vocal
folds start to oscillate. The minimum pressure drop required to achieve phonation is called the
phonation threshold pressure,
[1][2]
and for humans with normal vocal folds, it is approximately
2–3 cm H2O. The motion of the vocal folds during oscillation is mostly lateral, though there is
also some superior component as well. However, there is almost no motion along the length of
the vocal folds. The oscillation of the vocal folds serves to modulate the pressure and flow of the
air through the larynx, and this modulated airflow is the main component of the sound of most
voiced phones.
The sound that the larynx produces is a harmonic series. In other words, it consists of a
fundamental tone (called the fundamental frequency, the main acoustic cue for the percept pitch)
accompanied by harmonic overtones, which are multiples of the fundamental frequency.
[3]

According to the source–filter theory, the resulting sound excites the resonance chamber that is
the vocal tract to produce the individual speech sounds,
The vocal folds will not oscillate if they are not sufficiently close to one another, are not under
sufficient tension or under too much tension, or if the pressure drop across the larynx is not
sufficiently large.
[4]
In linguistics, a phone is called voiceless if there is no phonation during its
occurrence.
[5]
In speech, voiceless phones are associated with vocal folds that are elongated,
highly tensed, and placed laterally (abducted) when compared to vocal folds during phonation.
[6]

Fundamental frequency, the main acoustic cue for the percept pitch, can be varied through a
variety of means. Large scale changes are accomplished by increasing the tension in the vocal
folds through contraction of the cricothyroid muscle. Smaller changes in tension can be effected
by contraction of the thyroarytenoid muscle or changes in the relative position of the thyroid and
cricoid cartilages, as may occur when the larynx is lowered or raised, either volitionally or
through movement of the tongue to which the larynx is attached via the hyoid bone.
[6]
In addition
to tension changes, fundamental frequency is also affected by the pressure drop across the
larynx, which is mostly affected by the pressure in the lungs, and will also vary with the distance
between the vocal folds. Variation in fundamental frequency is used linguistically to produce
intonation and tone.
There are currently two main theories as to how vibration of the vocal folds is initiated: the
myoelastic theory and the aerodynamic theory.
[7]
These two theories are not in contention with
one another and it is quite possible that both theories are true and operating simultaneously to
initiate and maintain vibration. A third theory, the neurochronaxic theory, was in considerable
vogue in the 1950s, but has since been largely discredited.
Myoelastic and aerodynamic theory
The myoelastic theory states that when the vocal cords are brought together and breath pressure
is applied to them, the cords remain closed until the pressure beneath them—the subglottic
pressure—is sufficient to push them apart, allowing air to escape and reducing the pressure
enough for the muscle tension recoil to pull the folds back together again. Pressure builds up
once again until the cords are pushed apart, and the whole cycle keeps repeating itself. The rate

3. at which the cords open and close—the number of cycles per second—determines the pitch of
the phonation.
[8]

The aerodynamic theory is based on the Bernoulli energy law in fluids. The theory states that
when a stream of breath is flowing through the glottis while the arytenoid cartilages are held
together by the action of the interarytenoid muscles, a push-pull effect is created on the vocal
fold tissues that maintains self-sustained oscillation. The push occurs during glottal opening,
when the glottis is convergent, whereas the pull occurs during glottal closing, when the glottis is
divergent.
[1]
Such an effect causes a transfer of energy from the airflow to the vocal fold tissues
which overcomes losses by dissipation and sustain the oscillation.
[2]
During glottal closure, the
air flow is cut off until breath pressure pushes the folds apart and the flow starts up again,
causing the cycles to repeat.
[8]
The textbook entitled Myoelastic Aerodynamic Theory of
Phonation
[7]
by Ingo Titze credits Janwillem van den Berg as the originator of the theory and
provides detailed mathematical development of the theory.
Neurochronaxic theory
This theory states that the frequency of the vocal fold vibration is determined by the chronaxy of
the recurrent nerve, and not by breath pressure or muscular tension. Advocates of this theory
thought that every single vibration of the vocal folds was due to an impulse from the recurrent
laryngeal nerves and that the acoustic center in the brain regulated the speed of vocal fold
vibration.
[8]
Speech and voice scientists have long since left this theory as the muscles have been
shown to not be able to contract fast enough to accomplish the vibration. In addition, persons
with paralyzed vocal folds can produce phonation, which would not be possible according to this
theory. Phonation occurring in excised larynges would also not be possible according to this
theory.
State of the glottis

A continuum from closed glottis to open. The black triangles represent the arytenoid cartilages,
the sail shapes the vocal cords, and the dotted circle the windpipe.
In linguistic phonetic treatments of phonation, such as those of Peter Ladefoged, phonation was
considered to be a matter of points on a continuum of tension and closure of the vocal cords.
More intricate mechanisms were occasionally described, but they were difficult to investigate,
and until recently the state of the glottis and phonation were considered to be nearly
synonymous.
[9]

If the vocal cords are completely relaxed, with the arytenoid cartilages apart for maximum
airflow, the cords do not vibrate. This is voiceless phonation, and is extremely common with
obstruents. If the arytenoids are pressed together for glottal closure, the vocal cords block the
airstream, producing stop sounds such as the glottal stop. In between there is a sweet spot of
maximum vibration. Also, the existence of an optimal glottal shape for ease of phonation has
been shown, at which the lung pressure required to initiate the vocal cord vibration is minimum.

4. [4]
This is modal voice, and is the normal state for vowels and sonorants in all the world's
languages. However, the aperture of the arytenoid cartilages, and therefore the tension in the
vocal cords, is one of degree between the end points of open and closed, and there are several
intermediate situations utilized by various languages to make contrasting sounds.
[9]

For example, Gujarati has vowels with a partially lax phonation called breathy voice or
murmured, while Burmese has vowels with a partially tense phonation called creaky voice or
laryngealized. Both of these phonations have dedicated IPA diacritics, an under-umlaut and
under-tilde. The Jalapa dialect of Mazatec is unusual in contrasting both with modal voice in a
three-way distinction. (Note that Mazatec is a tonal language, so the glottis is making several
tonal distinctions simultaneously with the phonation distinctions.)
[9]


Mazatec
breathy voice [ja̤ ] he wears
modal voice [já] tree
creaky voice [ja̰ ] he carries
Note: There was an editing error in the source of this information. The latter two
translations may have been mixed up.
Javanese does not have modal voice in its stops, but contrasts two other points along the
phonation scale, with more moderate departures from modal voice, called slack voice and stiff
voice. The "muddy" consonants in Shanghainese are slack voice; they contrast with tenuis and
aspirated consonants.
[9]

Although each language may be somewhat different, it is convenient to classify these degrees of
phonation into discrete categories. A series of seven alveolar stops, with phonations ranging
from an open/lax to a closed/tense glottis, are:
Open glottis [t] voiceless (full airstream)

[d̤ ] breathy voice

[d̥ ] slack voice
Sweet spot [d] modal voice (maximum vibration)

[d̬ ] stiff voice

[d̰ ] creaky voice
Closed glottis [ʔ
͡
t] glottal closure (blocked airstream)
The IPA diacritics under-ring and subscript wedge, commonly called "voiceless" and "voiced",
are sometimes added to the symbol for a voiced sound to indicate more lax/open (slack) and
tense/closed (stiff) states of the glottis, respectively. (Ironically, adding the 'voicing' diacritic to
the symbol for a voiced consonant indicates less modal voicing, not more, because a modally
voiced sound is already fully voiced, at its sweet spot, and any further tension in the vocal cords
dampens their vibration.)
[9]

5. Alsatian, like several Germanic languages, has a typologically unusual phonation in its stops.
The consonants transcribed /b̥/, /d̥/, /ɡ̊/ (ambiguously called "lenis") are partially voiced: The
vocal cords are positioned as for voicing, but do not actually vibrate. That is, they are technically
voiceless, but without the open glottis usually associated with voiceless stops. They contrast with
both modally voiced /b, d, ɡ/ and modally voiceless /p, t, k/ in French borrowings, as well as
aspirated /kʰ/ word initially.
[9]

Glottal consonants
It has long been noted that in many languages, both phonologically and historically, the glottal
consonants [ʔ, ɦ, h] do not behave like other consonants. Phonetically, they have no manner or
place of articulation other than the state of the glottis: glottal closure for [ʔ], breathy voice for
[ɦ], and open airstream for [h]. Some phoneticians have described these sounds as neither glottal
nor consonantal, but instead as instances of pure phonation, at least in many European languages.
However, in Semitic languages they do appear to be true glottal consonants.
[9]

Supra-glottal phonation
In the last few decades it has become apparent that phonation may involve the entire larynx, with
as many as six valves and muscles working either independently or together. From the glottis
upward, these articulations are:
[10]

1. glottal (the vocal cords), producing the distinctions described above
2. ventricular (the 'false vocal cords', partially covering and damping the glottis)
3. arytenoid (sphincteric compression forwards and upwards)
4. epiglotto-pharyngeal (retraction of the tongue and epiglottis, potentially closing onto the
pharyngeal wall)
5. raising or lowering of the entire larynx
6. narrowing of the pharynx
Until the development of fiber-optic laryngoscopy, the full involvement of the larynx during
speech production was not observable, and the interactions among the six laryngeal articulators
is still poorly understood. However, at least two supra-glottal phonations appear to be
widespread in the world's languages. These are harsh voice ('ventricular' or 'pressed' voice),
which involves overall constriction of the larynx, and faucalized voice ('hollow' or 'yawny'
voice), which involves overall expansion of the larynx.
[10]

The Bor dialect of Dinka has contrastive modal, breathy, faucalized, and harsh voice in its
vowels, as well as three tones. The ad hoc diacritics employed in the literature are a subscript
double quotation mark for faucalized voice, [a͈ ], and underlining for harsh voice, [a̱ ].
[10]

Examples are,
Voice modal breathy harsh faucalized
Bor Dinka tɕìt tɕì̤t tɕì̱t tɕì͈t

diarrhea go ahead scorpions to swallow

6. Other languages with these contrasts are Bai (modal, breathy, and harsh voice), Kabiye
(faucalized and harsh voice, previously seen as ±ATR), Somali (breathy and harsh voice).
[10]

Elements of laryngeal articulation or phonation may occur widely in the world's languages as
phonetic detail even when not phonemically contrastive. For example, simultaneous glottal,
ventricular, and arytenoid activity (for something other than epiglottal consonants) has been
observed in Tibetan, Korean, Nuuchahnulth, Nlaka'pamux, Thai, Sui, Amis, Pame, Arabic,
Tigrinya, Cantonese, and Yi.
[10]

Familiar language examples
In languages such as French, all obstruents occur in pairs, one modally voiced and one
voiceless.
[citation needed]

In English, every voiced fricative corresponds to a voiceless one. For the pairs of English stops,
however, the distinction is better specified as voice onset time rather than simply voice: In initial
position /b d g/ are only partially voiced (voicing begins during the hold of the consonant), while
/p t k/ are aspirated (voicing doesn't begin until well after its release).
[citation needed]
Certain English
morphemes have voiced and voiceless allomorphs, such as the plural, verbal, and possessive
endings spelled -s (voiced in kids /kɪdz/ but voiceless in kits /kɪts/) and the past-tense ending
spelled -ed (voiced in buzzed /bʌzd/ but voiceless in fished /fɪʃt/.
[citation needed]

A few European languages, such as Finnish, have no phonemically voiced obstruents but pairs of
long and short consonants instead. Outside of Europe, a lack of voicing distinctions is not
uncommon; indeed, in Australian languages it is nearly universal. In languages without the
distinction between voiceless and voiced obstruents, it is often found that they are realized as
voiced in voiced environments such as between vowels, and voiceless elsewhere.
Vocal registers
For a subset of a language used in a particular social setting, see Register (sociolinguistics).
Phonology
Main article: Register (phonology)
In phonology, a register is a combination of tone and vowel phonation into a single phonological
parameter. For example, among its vowels, Burmese combines modal voice with low tone,
breathy voice with falling tone, creaky voice with high tone, and glottal closure with high tone.
These four registers contrast with each other, but no other combination of phonation (modal,
breath, creak, closed) and tone (high, low, falling) is found.
Pedagogy and speech pathology
Main article: Vocal registration

7. Among vocal pedagogues and speech pathologists, a vocal register also refers to a particular
phonation limited to a particular range of pitch, which possesses a characteristic sound
quality.
[11]
The term "register" may be used for several distinct aspects of the human voice:
[8]

 A particular part of the vocal range, such as the upper, middle, or lower registers, which
may be bounded by vocal breaks
 A particular phonation
 A resonance area such as chest voice or head voice
 A certain vocal timbre
Four combinations of these elements are identified in speech pathology: the vocal fry register,
the modal register, the falsetto register, and the whistle register.
See also
 Ballistic syllables
 Breathy voice
 Creaky voice
 Faucalized voice
 Harsh voice
 List of language disorders
 List of phonetics topics
 Slack voice
 Stiff voice
 Strident vowel
 Vocal resonation
 Voice onset time
 Voice organ
References
1. Titze, I.R. (1988). "The physics of small-amplitude oscillation of the vocal folds".
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 83: 1536–1552. doi:10.1121/1.395910.
2. Lucero, J. C. (1995). "The minimum lung pressure to sustain vocal fold oscillation".
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 98: 779–784. doi:10.1121/1.414354.
3. The human instrument. Principles of Voice Production, Prentice Hall (currently published
by NCVS.org)
4. Lucero, J. C. (1998). "Optimal glottal configuration for ease of phonation". Journal of
Voice 12: 151–158. doi:10.1016/S0892-1997(98)80034-9.
5. Greene, Margaret; Lesley Mathieson (2001). The Voice and its Disorders. John Wiley &
Sons; 6th Edition. ISBN 978-1-86156-196-1.
6. Zemlin, Willard (1998). Speech and hearing science : anatomy and physiology. Allyn
and Bacon; 4th edition. ISBN 0-13-827437-1.
7. Titze, I. R. (2006).The Myoelastic Aerodynamic Theory of Phonation, Iowa
City:National Center for Voice and Speech, 2006.

8. 8. McKinney, James (1994). The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults. Genovex
Music Group. ISBN 978-1-56593-940-0.
9. Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford:
Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.
10. Edmondson, Jerold A.; John H. Esling (2005). "The valves of the throat and their
functioning in tone, vocal register, and stress: laryngoscopic case studies". Phonology
(Cambridge University Press) 23 (2): 157–191. doi:10.1017/S095267570600087X.
11. Large, John (February–March 1972). "Towards an Integrated Physiologic-Acoustic
Theory of Vocal Registers". The NATS Bulletin 28: 30–35.
External links
 States of the Glottis (Esling & Harris, University of Victoria)
 Universität Stuttgart Speech production
 A video showing phonation in action
[hide]
 v
 t
 e
Phonation

Glottal states (from open to closed)

Voiceless
Breathy
voice
Slack voice
Modal
voice
Stiff voice
Creaky
voice
Glottalize
d
Ballisti
c


(full
airstream
)
(murmur
)
(intermediate
)
(maximu
m
vibration)
(intermediate
)
(restricte
d
airstream
)
(blocked
airstream)
(fortis)




Supra-
glottal
phonatio
n
 Faucalized voice ("hollow")
 Harsh voice ("pressed")
 Strident (harsh trilled)

Non-
phonemic
phonatio
n
 Whisper
 Falsetto

Categories:
 Phonation
 Human voice

9. Most people realize speech and other sounds are created by the use of the vocal cords but do not
know how phonation or vocalization actually work. Understanding can give you a more holistic
view of singing and improve your tone quality. Ultimately use of your vocal cords makes all the
difference to your overall sound.
What is the Larynx? The larynx, often referred to as the voice box, is located on the neck where
the Adam’s apple is.
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10.  Speech Level Singing
Other than housing and protecting the vocal cords, the larynx also aids in breathing and shielding
the windpipe and lungs from foreign objects. There are many muscles housed in the voice box
that aid in vocalization, only one being the vocalis muscle, which provides the main mass of the
vocal cords. Laryngeal activity is another and possibly more accurate way to refer to
vocalization, because it refers to all muscles involved.
Phonation: Phonation is defined as vocalization. Vocal sound is created by the opening and
closing of the vocal cords, caused by air flow from the lungs. Muscular resistance to the air
pressure also determines sounds from breathy to pressed or pinched.
Bernoulli’s Principle: Bernoulli’s principle explains why air opens and shuts the cords. It is the
same principle that keeps airplanes in the air. It states that slower moving air has more air
pressure than faster moving air. When the space between the vocal cords is narrow, it is similar
to a spot on the freeway that goes from four lanes to one.
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Before the constricted area, cars build up and slow down. During the one lane opening, few cars
slowly get through and speed up after the highway opens up to four lanes again. The same goes
for air flow through the vocal cords; pressure builds up below the vocal cords when the space
between them is narrow. Eventually increased air pressure bursts them open. Some muscular
resistance to Bernoulli’s principle manipulates sound produced by laryngeal activity.
Examples of Action of Vocal Cords: Take two sheets of paper and place them vertically in
front of your mouth. Blow air forcefully through them. You might think the air will push the
papers apart. It actually causes the papers to flap together, which is a very clear representation of
how the vocal cords work inside the larynx. Another similar activity is to buzz the lips, by
keeping them loose and the breath flowing. If you add pitch to the buzz, notice the lips elongate
and loosen on lower notes and shorten and tighten on higher ones.
Resonating Chambers: Notice the two vibrating papers make very little sound. Vocalization,
however, makes a significantly louder sound because of the resonating chamber of the vocal tract
in the human body. Each vocal cycle creates a puff of air produced by the subglottic pressure
caused by Bernoulli’s Principle as the vocal cords suddenly open. Each air puff is like a tap on a
drum. It sends a wave down the vocal tract causing it to vibrate. The rate at which the vocal tract
vibrates determines pitch. So, 440 puffs of air per second create the pitch A above middle C. The
frequency is referred to as 440Hz or hertz, which means cycles per second. The vocal tract can
also be adjusted to create a louder or quieter sound.

11. Breath Threshold: The perfect balance between air energy and muscular resistance to air
pressure, creating the loudest, most efficient sound without causing tension. If you sound
“breathy,” you may be letting too much air out all at once or you may not be using your vocal
cords efficiently.
5.1. Types of phonation
voiceless nil whisper
voiced modal creak breathy harsh falsetto
The basic features of the laryngeal adjustments to the different phonatory
settings can be summarized as proposed by Hirose (1996:127):
1. abduction or adduction of the vocal folds;
2. constriction of supraglottal structures; adjustment of length,
3. stiffness and thickness of the vocal folds;
4. elevation and lowering of the larynx.
The tension and adjustment forces acting on the vocal folds are depicted in Fig.5.
Figure 5. The tension and adjustment forces (from: Ní Chasaide & Gobl,1997:444).


The active longitudinal tension of the vocal folds is achieved through the contraction of the
vocalis muscle, whereas the passive longitudinal tension is achieved through contraction of the
cricothyroid muscle. The medial tension (compression) is obtained by contracting the lateral
thyroarytenoid muscles. The adductive tension is caused by contraction of the interarytenoid

12. muscles and the lateral cricoarytenoid muscles. Each phonatory class has a different specification
in terms of these physiological parameters. Below, the influences of the tensions and adjustments
of the vocal folds on the phonation process and on voice quality will be described briefly(after
Eckert & Laver, 1994).
Voicelessness (nil phonation) is realized either by blocking the airflow from the lungs with
fully adducted vocal folds or with the vocal folds widely abducted and wide opening of the
glottis, when the airflow is laminar. In both cases no sound is generated and no acoustic energy
is injected into the vocal tract.
Voicelessness at higher flow speeds causes turbulence even with widely abducted vocal folds.
This type of phonation is called breath. An obvious example is the pronunciation of [h] at the
beginning of a word like German [h a n t] where the volume velocity flow can reach about 1000
cc/s (cubic centimetres per second).

Figure 6. Voiceless whisper phonation.
Arrows mark the tensions according to Fig.5
(see Eckert & Laver, 1994:80).


Whisper phonation (Fig.6) is characterized by a triangular opening of the cartilaginous
glottis (the shape of an inverted Y). Adductive tension is very low and medial compression, as
well as longitudinal tension, are moderately high.
Whisper sound quality is produced through turbulences generated by the friction of
the air in and above the larynx with vocal folds not vibrating.
(WAV file, 10 kB)
Apart from the rather seldom linguistic uses, whisper is widely used paralinguistically to signal
secrecy and confidentiality.

13. Quite different and much more varied types of phonation are involved in the vibration of the
vocal folds. The aerodynamic aspects of vocal fold movements have been already addressed
above and thus description of the effects of muscular settings on vocal fold movements is to
follow now.
The neutral mode of phonation is modal voiced phonation. In the normal case the vibration
of the vocal folds is periodic with full closing of glottis, so no audible friction noises are
produced when air flows through the glottis. All muscular adjustments are on a moderate level
and the frequency of vibration, as well as loudness are in the lower to mid part of the range
normally used in conversation. The modal phonation of a male speaker occcurs at an average of
120 Hz, while for a female speaker it is approx. 220 Hz. For voiced sounds the glottis is closed
or nearly closed, whereas for voiceless sounds it is wide open, actually the distance between the
folds amount to only a fraction of a milimeter. The degree of opening and its timing is relative to
the articulatory gestures and depends on the phonetic environment of a generated sound. The
average flow rate is between 100 and 350 cc/s.
(WAV file, 16 kB)

One of the characteristics of modal phonation is the build-up of the contact between the vocal
folds. During the open phase of vibration the glottis has a triangular form with wider opening at
the arytenoids. As the vocal folds close, they do not do so in all places at the same time, but with
a vertical phase difference (in accordance with the body-cover model of vocal fold vibrations),
with the lower parts of the edges closing and opening before the upper edges
6
. For this reason the
contact area is triangular during the opening and closing of the vocal folds, and, consequently,
the glottis takes on the shape of a tetrahedron, as depicted in Fig.7.
Figure 7. Triangular shape of the contact between the vocal folds.

14. Figure 8. Creaky voice phonation. Arrows mark the tensions
according to Fig.5 (see Eckert & Laver, 1994:77)


Creak phonation (also called vocal fry) is also produced with vibrating vocal folds but at a
very low frequency. The vocal folds (Fig.8) are strongly adducted and of weak longitudinal
tension. Both this factors cause the vocal folds' thickening. Additionally, they may come in
contact with the false folds creating an unusually thick and slack structure.
The resulting low tension and heavy vibrating mass are responsible for the slower and
irregular vibration. Both subglottal pressure also the glottal airflow are lowered
compared to modal phonation. Creak is produced at a flow rate of 12-20 cc/s while
pulses are produced in a frequency range from 25 to 50 Hz.
(WAV file, 16 kB)

15. Figure 9. Breathy voice phonation. Arrows mark the tensions
according to Fig.5 (see Eckert & Laver, 1994:77)


Breathy voice is normally regarded as a compound phonation type (voiceless+modal), but I
have decided to view it as an independent phonation type because of diverse adjustments of
laryngeal structures in comparison to other phonation modes. Muscular tension is low, with
minimal adductive tension, weak medial compression and medium longitudinal tension of
the vocal folds (Fig. 9).
Vocal fold vibration is inefficient and, because of the incomplete closure of the glottis,
a constant glottal leakage occurs which causes the production of audible friction
noise. Air flows through the vocal folds at a high rate. The vibrations' frequency of is
just below the value typical of the modal voice.
(WAV file, 17 kB)
Breathy voice differs from voiced whisper because of the weaker medial compression and the
smaller degree of voicing effort. However, as pointed out by Laver (1980), there is no clear
perceptual boundary between whispery and breathy voice.

Figure 10. Harsh voice phonation. Arrows mark the tensions
according to Fig.5 (see Eckert & Laver, 1994:88)

16. Harsh voice (Fig.10) is due to the very strong tension of the vocal folds (especially medial
compression and adductive tension), which results in an excessive approximation of the vocal
folds. When the whole larynx is subjected to this extremely high tension, the upper larynx
becomes highly constricted with the ventricular folds pressing on the upper surfaces of the vocal
folds, making their vibration ineffective.
Harsh phonation is therefore irregular in both cycle duration and amplitude. The
characteristic fundamental frequency is above 100 Hz.
(WAV file, 18 kB)
A lighter degree of tension is sometimes described as a tense voice
7


Figure 11. Falsetto phonation. Arrows mark the tensions
according to Fig.5 (see Eckert & Laver, 1994:84)

17. The frequency of vibrations in falsetto phonation is noticeably higher than in modal voice. The
vocal folds are stretched longitudinally, thus becoming relatively thin. Consequently, the
vibrating mass is smaller and the generated tone higher (eq.(1)). The adduction of the folds is
high and the medial compression is also strong (Fig.11).
The glottis often remains slightly open, resulting in low subglottal pressure (due to
constant glottal leakage) and the generation of the audible friction noise component.
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Not all phonation types are mutually exclusive, on the contrary, some of them work together to
modify phonation. Only modal and falsetto are incompatible because they use the structure of the
larynx differently. The possible combinations of phonation types are given in Tab. 2. The
compound phonation types are used solely on the para- and extralinguistic layers of
communication.

7. the term of tense voice is also used to describe a higher degree of tension in the entire vocal
tract (Ní Chasaide & Gobl, 1997:451)