Effects of consonantal constrictions on voice quality

Abstract

A speech production experiment with electroglottography investigated how voicing is affected by consonants of differing degrees of constriction. Measures of glottal contact [closed quotient (CQ)] and strength of voicing [strength of excitation (SoE)] were used in conditional inference tree analyses. Broadly, the results show that as the degree of constriction increases, both CQ and SoE values decrease, indicating breathier and weaker voicing. Similar changes in voicing quality are observed throughout the course of the production of a given segment. Implications of these results for a greater understanding of source-tract interactions and for the phonological notion of sonority are discussed.