Voice Quality Symbols (VoQS) are a set of phonetic symbols used to transcribe disordered speech for what in speech pathology is known as "voice quality". This phrase is usually synonymous with

phonation The term phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, ''phonation'' is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the defini ...

in phonetics, but in speech pathology encompasses

secondary articulation In phonetics, secondary articulation occurs when the articulation of a consonant is equivalent to the combined articulations of two or three simpler consonants, at least one of which is an approximant. The secondary articulation of such co-articul ...

as well. VoQS symbols are normally combined with curly braces that span a section of speech, just as with prosody notation in the extended IPA. The symbols may be modified with a digit to convey relative degree of the quality. For example, is used for harsh voice, and indicates that the intervening speech is very harsh. indicates a lowered larynx. Thus, indicates that the intervening speech is less harsh with a lowered larynx. VoQS use mostly IPA or extended IPA diacritics on capital letters for the element being modified: V for 'voice'/articulation, L for 'larynx', and J for 'jaw'. Degree is marked 1 for slight, 2 for moderate, and 3 for extreme.

Symbols

The following combinations of letters and diacritics are used. They indicate an airstream mechanism, phonation or

across a stretch of speech. For example, 'palatalized voice' indicates

palatalization Palatalization may refer to: *Palatalization (phonetics), the phonetic feature of palatal secondary articulation *Palatalization (sound change) Palatalization is a historical-linguistic sound change that results in a palatalized articulation ...

of all segments of speech spanned by the braces. Several of these symbols may be profitably used as part of single speech sounds, in addition to indicating voice qualities across spans of speech. For example, is blowing a raspberry, while indictes a string of speech with a Donald Duck quality. is the l* sound in Damin while is a string of ingressive speech.

Airstream mechanisms

The airstream mechanism is the process for generating the flow of air required for speech. : buccal speech (symbol is iconic for the pockets of air in the cheeks) :

œsophageal speech Esophageal speech, also known as esophageal voice, is an airstream mechanism for speech that involves oscillation of the esophagus. This contrasts with traditional larynx, laryngeal speech, which involves oscillation of the vocal folds. In esopha ...

(symbol derives from the letter ''œ'' of ''œsophagus) : tracheo-œsophageal speech (symbol attempts to capture iconically the dual nature of the airstream) : pulmonic ingressive speech

Phonation types

The four primary

types, other than voiceless, each receive a distinct letter: : modal voice :

falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...

whisper Whispering is an unvoiced mode of phonation in which the vocal cords are abducted so that they do not vibrate; air passes between the arytenoid cartilages to create audible turbulence during speech. Supralaryngeal articulation remains t ...

(Typically only the normally modally voiced segments are whispery, while the voiceless segments remain voiceless. Note that this "whisper" is distinct from the "whispery voice" below.) : creak Modifications are made with diacritics. The terms "whispery voice" and "breathy voice" follow Catford (1977) and differ from the vocabulary of the IPA, with VoQS "whispery voice" being equivalent to IPA "breathy voice" / "murmur". The notations and are therefore often confused, and should perhaps be used for VoQS "whispery voice" with e.g. for VoQS "breathy voice".Ball, Esling & Dickson (2000: 54) : whispery voice ( murmur; the breathy voice of the IPA) : creaky voice : breathy voice : whispery creak : slack/lax voice : harsh voice (without ventricular vibration; this may differ from the use of the word "harsh" cross-linguistically, which may be the same as "ventricular", next) : ventricular phonation : diplophonia (simultaneous ventricular and glottal vibration; see also

vocal-fold cyst Vocal fold cysts (also known as ''vocal cord cysts'') are benign masses of the membranous vocal folds. These cysts are enclosed, sac-like structures that are typically of a yellow or white colour. They occur unilaterally on the midpoint of the me ...

) : whispery ventricular phonation : (html ) aryepiglottic phonation : pressed phonation/tight voice (made by pressing together the

arytenoid cartilage The arytenoid cartilages () are a pair of small three-sided pyramids which form part of the larynx. They are the site of attachment of the vocal cords. Each is pyramidal or ladle-shaped and has three surfaces, a base, and an apex. The arytenoid ...

s so that only the anterior ligamental vocal folds vibrate; the opposite of whisper, where the vibration is posterior) : tight whisper :

spasmodic dysphonia Spasmodic dysphonia, also known as laryngeal dystonia, is a disorder in which the muscles that generate a person's voice go into periods of spasm. This results in breaks or interruptions in the voice, often every few sentences, which can make a pe ...

: electrolaryngeal phonation (approximates symbol for electricity) : raised larynx : lowered larynx : faucalized voice (iconic of narrowing of faucal pillars) : zero airstream

Secondary articulation

These settings involve

, usually in addition to any articulation that would be expected for non-pathological speech. They are called voices because they affect the sound quality of the utterance (that is, the individual's

human voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production ...

), though this usage contradicts the IPA use of the word "voice" for voicing. For illustration here, diacritics are combined with the letter 'V' for modal voice, as that is the default assumption. (They could also be combined with F, W, C, etc.) : labialized (open rounded; that is, ) : labialized (close rounded) : spread-lip : labio-dentalized : linguo-apicalized : linguo-laminalized : retroflex : dentalized (diacritic iconic for a tooth) : alveolarized (diacritic iconic for the alveolar ridge) : palatoalveolarized : palatalized : velarized : uvularized (self-evident extension of IPA usage) : pharyngealized : laryngo-pharyngealized : nasalized : denasalized : open jaw (that is, more than the norm) : close jaw (more than the norm) : right-offset jaw : left-offset jaw : protruded jaw : protruded tongue (protrusion of the tip or blade of the tongue for extended periods)

Compound notation

Combinations of symbols are also used, such as for nasal whispery voice, for whispery creaky falsetto, or for ventricular phonation with nasal lisp.Ball & Lowry (2001) ''Methods in Clinical Phonetics'', p. 39. If the number of diacritics on a letter becomes excessive, the notation may be broken up. For example, may be replaced with .

References