Vowel-Related Differences in Laryngeal Articulatory and Phonatory Function

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to study the interaction between the supralaryngeal and laryngeal components of the speech mechanism by examining vowel-related effects for a variety of vocal fold articulatory and phonatory measures. Secondary issues were to determine if vowel-related differences were influenced by the nature of the speaking task or gender. Between-vowel differences in estimated subglottal air pressure, peak oral air flow, mean phonatory air flow, air flow near the termination of the vowel, electroglottograph cycle width (EGGW), fundamental frequency, and voice onset time were examined for men and women during syllable repetitions and sentence productions. Significant vowel-related differences were found for all of the measures except mean phonatory air flow, and generally were not influenced by speaking task or gender. Vowel-related effects for estimated subglottal air pressure, peak oral air flow, fundamental frequency, and VOT were consistent with some earlier studies. New findings included vowel-related differences in EGGW and air flow near the termination of the vowel. We propose a model that includes the contribution of mechanical forces, reflexive neural activity, and learned neural activity to explain vowel-related effects. When vowel height is varied, changes in laryngeal cartilage positioning and vocal fold and vocal tract tension appear to influence laryngeal articulatory and phonatory function.

Sex differences in voice onset time: A developmental study of phonetic context effects in British English

“…1) could be explained in terms of greater levels of airway resistance which cause a delay in the onset of voicing (e.g. Higgins et al, 1998;Nearey and Rochet, 1994;Port and Rotunno, 1979). The smaller dimensions of the female supralaryngeal vocal tract and relatively smaller vocal tract constrictions which will have greater levels of airway resistance compared to their male peers, may also explain why the 13;2-year old females have longer VOT values, particularly for the voiceless plosives.…”

Lingual kinematic strategies used to increase speech rate: Comparison between younger and older adults

“…Following this desensitisation period, the participants were then asked to produce twelve repetitions of both /ta/ and /ka/ at a moderate rate of three syllables per second that was modelled by one of the researchers (rate monitored using a stopwatch), and then at a rate as fast as possible. A rate of three syllables per second was chosen as this rate has been deemed to be closest to an average rate of speech (Higgins, Netsell, & Schulte, 1998). It was regarded as important to ensure that the participants produced the syllables in the moderate rate condition at a rate that was comfortable for them, rather than impose a strict syllable repetition rate that may have taxed their speech system.…”

The VOT Category Boundary in Word-Initial Stops: Counter-Evidence Against Rate Normalization in English Spontaneous Speech

“…The vowel following a stop onset has been reported to affect the VOT of the stop onset, and the locations of perceptual VOT category boundaries between voiced vs. voiceless stop onsets (Higgins et al, 1998;Klatt, 1975;Nearey & Rochet, 1994;Summerfield, 1975Summerfield, , 1981. Though there are some discrepancies in the details, the general finding is that stops tend to be accompanied by a longer VOT when they precede phonologically high vowels than non-high vowels.…”