A series of photographs of the vibratiing vocal folds


This series of photographs of the vibrating vocal folds was taken using a stroboscope triggered by a laryngograph. 
Image © Laryngograph Ltd

INDEX

Michael Ashby & John Maidment

Introducing Phonetic Science

Chapter 2: Voice

Chapter Summary

We normally speak while breathing out. Air passing out of the lungs must go through the larynx, where its flow is controlled by the vocal folds. They may be open (as for breathing, and for voiceless sounds), closed (for a glottal stop), or vibrating (producing voice). Voicing makes a distinction between consonants such as [v] (voiced) and [f] (voiceless), and this is utilised in many languages of the world. Voiced sounds have complex periodic waveforms, and voicing is the only source of periodic energy in speech