Voice Quality

The first description of voice quality production in forty years, this book provides a new framework for its study: The Laryngeal Articulator Model. Informed by instrumental examinations of the laryngeal articulatory mechanism, it revises our understanding of articulatory postures to explain the actions, vibrations and resonances generated in the epilarynx and pharynx. It focuses on the long-term auditory-articulatory component of accent in the languages of the world, explaining how voice quality relates to segmental and syllabic sounds. Phonetic illustrations of phonation types and of laryngeal and oral vocal tract articulatory postures are provided. Extensive video and audio material is available on a companion website. The book presents computational simulations, the laryngeal and voice quality foundations of infant speech acquisition, speech/voice disorders and surgeries that entail compensatory laryngeal articulator adjustment, and an exploration of the role of voice quality in sound change and of the larynx in the evolution of speech.

• Includes phonetic illustrations of phonation types and laryngeal states obtained using laryngoscopy, ultrasound, cineradiography, and MRI
• A companion website with a comprehensive set of video and audio files provides students and instructors access to a unique data set that illustrates how the lower vocal tract works and what sounds it generates
• Includes specific search terms so readers can find video and audio posts of pop-culture voices (actors, singers, announcers, comedians and politicians), assembled together for the first time, with descriptions of their voice qualities