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Related Experiment Videos

The cricothyroid muscle in voicing control.

A Löfqvist1, T Baer, N S McGarr

  • 1Haskins Laboratories, New Haven, Connecticut 06510-6696.

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|March 1, 1989
PubMed
Summary

Vocal fold tension, controlled by the cricothyroid (CT) muscle, influences speech voicing. Higher CT muscle activity correlates with voiceless consonants, affecting vocal fold vibration and fundamental frequency (F0).

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Area of Science:

  • Linguistics
  • Speech Science
  • Phonetics
  • Physiology

Background:

  • Voicing in speech production depends on vocal fold vibration, influenced by adduction, tension, and airflow.
  • Manipulating these parameters can control the voiced or voiceless status of speech sounds.
  • The cricothyroid (CT) muscle plays a key role in adjusting vocal fold longitudinal tension.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the control of voicing and voicelessness in speech.
  • To examine the specific role of changes in vocal fold longitudinal tension, indicated by CT muscle activity.
  • To correlate CT muscle activity with consonant voicing and subsequent vowel fundamental frequency (F0).

Main Methods:

  • Electromyographic (EMG) recordings of the CT muscle were obtained from speakers of American English and Dutch.
  • Linguistic material included reiterant speech with voiced and voiceless consonants (stops, fricatives, affricates) in CV syllables.
  • CT muscle activity was compared between voiced and voiceless consonants, and F0 was measured following consonants.

Main Results:

  • CT muscle activity was significantly higher for voiceless consonants compared to their voiced cognates.
  • A common pattern of higher F0 was observed at the beginning of vowels following voiceless consonants.
  • In one case, similar CT activity for voiced and voiceless affricates corresponded to less robust F0 variations.

Conclusions:

  • Differences in CT muscle activity suggest active control of vocal fold tension for maintaining or suppressing phonation.
  • This mechanism likely underlies the observed differences in voicing and the consonant-induced F0 variations.
  • CT muscle activity is a crucial factor in the production of voiced and voiceless consonants and their acoustic consequences.

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