Voice Quality Symbols (VoQS) are a set of phonetic symbols used to transcribe disordered speech for what in

speech pathology Speech is a human vocal communication using language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which hum ...

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 defin ...

phonetics Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

, 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-articu ...

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 Harsh voice, also called ventricular voice or (in some high-tone registers) pressed voice, is the production of speech sounds (typically vowels) with a constricted laryngeal cavity, which generally involves epiglottal co-articulation. Harsh voic ...

, 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 IPA commonly refers to: * India pale ale, a style of beer * International Phonetic Alphabet, a system of phonetic notation * Isopropyl alcohol, a chemical compound IPA may also refer to: Organizations International * Insolvency Practitioners A ...

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 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 In phonetics, the airstream mechanism is the method by which airflow is created in the vocal tract. Along with phonation and articulation, it is one of three main components of speech production. The airstream mechanism is mandatory for sound pr ...

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 (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 In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies ...

, 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 ligamentou ...

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 the ...

(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 In linguistics, creaky voice (sometimes called laryngealisation, pulse phonation, vocal fry, or glottal fry) refers to a low, scratchy sound that occupies the vocal range below the common vocal register. It is a special kind of phonation in which ...

breathy voice Breathy voice (also called murmured voice, whispery voice, soughing and susurration) is a phonation in which the vocal folds vibrate, as they do in normal (modal) voicing, but are adjusted to let more air escape which produces a sighing-like ...

: whispery creak : slack/lax 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) : whispery ventricular phonation : (html )

aryepiglottic The aryepiglottic muscle, or aryepiglotticus muscle is an intrinsic muscle of the larynx. The muscle originates from the muscular process of arytenoid cartilage and inserts to the aryepiglottic fold and lateral border of epiglottis. The aryepigl ...

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 p ...

: electrolaryngeal phonation (approximates symbol for electricity) : raised larynx : lowered larynx :

faucalized voice Faucalized voice, also called hollow voice or yawny voice, is a vocal quality of speech production characterized by the vertical expansion of the pharyngeal cavity due to the lowering of the larynx. It is termed ''faucalized'' because of the str ...

(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 producti ...

), 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 Labialization is a secondary articulatory feature of sounds in some languages. Labialized sounds involve the lips while the remainder of the oral cavity produces another sound. The term is normally restricted to consonants. When vowels involve ...

(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 Velarization is a secondary articulation of consonants by which the back of the tongue is raised toward the velum during the articulation of the consonant. In the International Phonetic Alphabet, velarization is transcribed by one of four d ...

uvularized Uvularization is a secondary articulation of consonants or vowels by which the back of the tongue is constricted toward the uvula and upper pharynx during the articulation of a sound with its primary articulation elsewhere. IPA symbols In the Int ...

(self-evident extension of IPA usage) :

pharyngealized Pharyngealization is a secondary articulation of consonants or vowels by which the pharynx or epiglottis is constricted during the articulation of the sound. IPA symbols In the International Phonetic Alphabet, pharyngealization can be indic ...

: laryngo-pharyngealized :

nasalized In phonetics, nasalization (or nasalisation) is the production of a sound while the velum is lowered, so that some air escapes through the nose during the production of the sound by the mouth. An archetypal nasal sound is . In the Internationa ...

: 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