Vocal tract aerodynamics in /aCa/ utterances: Measurements

Abstract

This paper examines air flow patterns at vowel-consonant and consonant-vowel transitions. Oral air flow was recorded in six speakers of American English producing reiterant speech. The air flow signal was inverse filtered to obtain an estimate of the glottal pulse. Measurements were made of peak and minimum flow, open quotient, pulse area and fundamental frequency. The results show that at the transitions between vowels and voiceless consonants the pulse properties show large variations. In particular, the source is characterized by a breathy mode of phonation. Breathiness was indexed by large values of peak and minimum flow, and an open quotient close to 1. The observed variations can be accounted for by the laryngeal adjustments that are made for voiceless consonants, in particular the glottal opening movement and its phasing with the oral articulatory events. Individual differences suggest that speakers vary in their use of the longitudinal tension of the vocal folds in controlling voicelessness. © 1995.