Intro to the Vocal Tract

Zsiga Chapter 1 content and Slide 1 of LING 313

Tools for Speech Research

• autopsy

• x-ray

• sonography

• MRI

Autopsy

• shows anatomy of vocal tract

• no physiology for sounds or sequences

• doesn’t show shape and structure of its parts

X-ray

cannot visualize tongue and skin-like figures of speech

daniel jones

• swallowed lead to visualize vowels

• dangerous and unethical

sonography / ultrasound

• sound waves pass through materials of differing densities

• sonar probe send sound waves through the tongue

MRI

• best use for soft tissues

• mid-sagittal sections to show vocal tract clearly

• coronal section (ear to ear) shows whole head

Parts of the sublaryngeal tract

lungs and diaphragm

what is the purpose of the lungs in the sublaryngeal tract

• allows air to enter and body and fill the ribcage

• expand and contracts by squeezing or pulling the abdomen

what is the purpose of the diaphragm in the sublaryngeal tract

• dome-shaped muscle separates chest from stomach

• contracts and flattens, so the lungs enlarge

which airstream mechanism is used for majority of consonants in the IPA chart

pulmonic airstream mechanism (egressive)

what are the hard parts of the larynx

• trachea

• cricoid cartilage

• arytenoid cartilages

• thyroid cartilage

• hyoid bone

what are the muscles in the larynx

• abductor

• adductors

• pitch manipulators

what is the abductor muscle in the larynx? and what is it’s purpose?

• ‘pushing part’

• posterior crico-arytenoid (PCA)

• widens aperture for inhalation

what are the adductor muscles in the larynx?

• Inter-arytenoid (IA)

• Lateral crico-arytenoid (LCA)

• Transverse oblique arytenoids

what is the purpose of adductor muscle called ‘lateral crico-arytenoid’ in the larynx?

• ‘bring together part’

• narrows aperture for exhalation / whispering

what muscles are used for pitch manipulation in the larynx?

• thyroid-arytenoid (TA)

• crico-thyroid (CT)

how does the thyroid-arytenoid (TA) manipulate pitch?

loosens vocal cords and lowers pitch

how does the crico-thyroid (CT) manipulate pitch?

stretches the vocal cords and increases pitch

what is the purpose of the trachea and which cartilages surround it?

• connects mouth and lungs

• cartilages

  • cricoid (top)

  • thyroid (sits over the cricoid)

  • arytenoids (sits on cricoid plates, hidden behind the thyroid)

parts of the vocal folds

• vocal ligament

• vocalis muscle

• vestibular folds

what is the vocal ligament

• multiple layers of tissue

• thin and thick on the inside edge

• thick and muscular at the sides

what is the vocalis muscle

the muscle that runs inside the vocal folds

what are the vestibular folds

• ‘false vocal folds’

• vibrations not active for speech

• used in throat singing

what is the epiglottis

the tissue flap that folds and rises to the larynx for swallowing

what is the pharynx and what is its purpose?

• the open space at the back of the mouth

• the space allows movement of the tongue for vowels and consonant sounds

what is the supra-laryngeal tract? and what is its purpose?

• the structures above the larynx

• allow creations of distinctive speech sounds via active and passive articulators

what is the tongue and what is its purpose?

• muscular hydrostat

• no bones, but muscles allow the tongue to move along regions

• major divisions include: tip, blade and body

what are the active articulators? what is the purpose?

• articulators used to narrow the vocal tract against one or more passive articulators

  • lower tongue

  • tongue front

  • tongue body (tip and blade)

  • tongue root (very back of the tongue)

what are the passive articulators? what is its purpose?

• everything that does not move

  • upper lip

  • upper teeth

  • alveolar ridge

  • post alveolar region

  • hard palate

  • velum

  • uvula

  • pharyngeal wall

what is the velum? what is its purpose?

• regulates the velar port

• the velum actively moves for the need of sound

• the velum opens during speech (ex. [m] and [n] for nasal qualities)

• it can hold position and stay there while other active articulators move

what is the relationship between cartilages in the larynx and voicing?

• cricoid, thyroid and arytenoids in the vocal folds make up the larynx

• vocal folds attach to the thyroid cartilage in front

• the arytenoid cartilages in the back

• vocal folds change by adjusting the position of thyroid and arytenoid cartilages