Airstream mechanisms and phonation types

Airstreammechanisms and phonation types

Outline • Airstreammechanisms – general overview • Pulmonic AM • Glottalic AM • Velaric AM • Phonation types • Voicelessnes • Whisper • Breathiness • Voice • Creak • Voiceonset time

Airstream mechanisms:General classification

Pulmonic (lung) AM (1) Pulmonic egressive AM • basic to speech production • standard AM (e.g. English, Spanish, Polish, Indonesian, Chinese) • the sole AM Pulmonic ingressive AM • [ja] inNorwegian and Danish – sympathy, agreementorcommiseration • [nei] – surprise (Norwegian and Danish), sympathy (Danish) • Pulmonic ingressive AM • possible • isn’tused for systematically for distinctivephonologicalpurposes • paralinguisticuses (Western cultures)

Pulmonic (lung) AM (2) • Pulmonic egressive AM • generator of the airstream – the respiratory system • inspiration – active • expiration – passive* • easier to control • less overall articulatory effort

Pulmonic (lung) AM (3) Differentactivity of the respiratory system: • breathing • about 12 inspirations and expirations per minute • expirationphaseonlyslightlylonger • inspiration – muscular action (activeprocess) • expiration – mechanical and elasticrecoilforce (passiveprocess) • speech • expirationphase much longer • expiration – a controlledprocesswithco-activation of the inspiratory and expiratorymuscles

Glottalic AM (1) • glottis (larynx) – initiator of an airstream • glottis closed – the air in the lungsblockedoff • movement of the larynxin the pharynx • controlled by elevator and depressorlaryngealmuscles • upward – egressive AM – ejectives • downward – ingressive AM – implosives

Glottalic AM (2) Ejectives • stops, fricatives and affricates • precedeorfollowsoundsusing pulmonic AM Pronunciation of a glottalic egressive velar stop [k’]:

Glottalic AM (3) Ejectivesarefoundinlanguages of: • Africa (Hausa), • North (Lakhota, Navajo), Central (Quicheanlanguage of Guatemala) and SouthAm, • Asia (mainlyin the Caucasusarea: Georgian and Circassian) • Soundexamples: http://www.paulmeier.com/ipa/nonpulmonics.html

Glottalic AM (4) Implosives • incompleteclosure of the glottis – voicing • voicelessimplosives – extremelyrare • onlystops • languages: African (Zulu, Hausa, Margi), Asian (Sindhi), American (Maidu)

Glottalic AM (5) Soundexamples – go to http://www.paulmeier.com/ipa/nonpulmonics.html Pronunciation of a glottalicbilabialimplosive [б]:

Velaric AM (1) • oralcavity • 2 closures– double articulation: • the back of the tongue – velum • anteriorclosure – the lips, the tip, blade or front of the tongue • onlyingressive airflow • cliks– stops and affricates • phonologicaldistinctions – ratheruncommon(Africanlanguages of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania) • paralinguisticuses of cliks: tsk, tsksignallingimpatienceorexasperation

Velaric AM (2) Pronunciation of a velaringressivevoicelessdental [k]: Soundexamples – go to http://www.paulmeier.com/ipa/nonpulmonics.html

Phonation types • Phonation: • vocal foldvibration • any state of the glottis • Phonationmodes: • voicelessness • whisper • breathiness (breathyvoice, murmur) • voice • creak (creakyvoice, laryngelization)

Voicelessness • absence of anyphonation • widelyorfullyopened glottis (60-95% of the maximumpossibleglottalarea) – a non-turbulent airflow

Whisper • greaterconstriction of the glottis (>25% of the possibleglottalarea) • adduction of the vocal folds, an openingbetween the arytenoidcartilages • characteristicflowratesabout 25-30 cc/s • linguisticuses – rare • paralinguisticuses – signalssecrecyorconfidentiality • onlyvoicedsounds can be whispered

Breathiness (murmur) • vocal foldsarepulledapart + continuousturbulent airflow (vibration) • incompleteglottalclosure, the arytenoidcartilagesslightlyapart • characteristicflowratesabove 200-300 cc/s • systematicdistinctions e.g. Hindi, Urdu (contrastbh-b, gh-g), Tamang (voicedvs. breathyvowels) • English: [h] betweenvowels (ahead, behind), voicequality, laryngealdisorders

Voice • normal vocal foldvibrationalong the length of the glottis • a number of subtypesinbetweenbreathy and creakyvoice • variationinvoicequality (fromdarkormellow to brightorsharpvoicequality) • voicing – normal for vowels, nasal and lateralconsonants

Creakyvoice (laryngelization) • lowfrequencyvibration of the vocal cords • irregular and short period of the opening of the glottis • the vibrationoccursin the anterior part • flowrate of 12-20 cc/s

Creakyvoice (2) • phonologicaldistinction: • betweenvoicedvs. creakyconsonants: West Africanlanguages (Hausa, Bura, Margi) • between „normally” voicedvs. creakyvowels: Ateso (Kenia), Lango (Uganda, Sudan) • inEnglish, Polish: • inutteranceswithfallingintonationin the end • feature of a speaker oreffect of a speakingdisorder

Voiceonset time (1) • refers to the start of the phonationrelative to the release of the closure • mainlyrelevant to stops Stops (betweenvowels) distinguished by VOT (adaptedfrom P. Ladefoged, A course inphonetics)

Voiceonset time (2) • VOT is a secondaryfactorin e.g. English, German • [p], [t], [k] : wordinitial, before a vowel, stressed – aspirated(identification of voicelessness) • wordinitial [b], [d], [g] – partiallyvoiced • inPolish, French, Dutch – onlyvoicelessvs. voiced • Primaryfactor – phonologicaldistinctionsin: • Thai, Burmese: voicelessaspirated, voicelessunaspirated and voiced • Hindi: voicelessaspirated, voicelessunaspirated, voiced and breathyvoiced

Airstream mechanisms and phonation types