Phonation

Phonation is the process by which the larynx, or voice box, produces sounds.

Quasi-periodic vibration of the vocal cords that produces voiced sounds, or any manipulation of the vocal stream by the larynx is also known as phonation. In addition to voicing, phonetic features affected by the larynx include creaky voice and breathy voice. The larynx is also responsible for glottal sounds, such as the glottal stop, pronounced between the vowels in the English "uh-oh".

Phoneticians who study laryngeal anatomy and speech production often take phonation to mean only the quasi-periodic vibration of the vocal cords. You can tell if a sound has this type of phonation by placing your fingers on the front of your throat, and feeling for vibration during speech. If the vocal cords are vibrating during speech, a voiced sound is produced. Voiced sounds include all vowels and nasal sounds in English, as well as consonants like /b/, /v/, /d/, /z/, and /g/. The voiceless counterparts of these consonants, /p/, /f/, /t/, /s/, and /k/ respectively, differ from the voiced versions only in the lack of vibration of the vocal cords.

Nearby pages
Phoneme, Phonetics, Phonograph, Phoolpur Pawai Vidhan Sabha Constituency, Photic zone