Voice Quality: The Laryngeal Articulator Model

Description

The first description of voice quality production in forty years, this book provides a new framework for its study: The Laryngeal Articulator Model. Informed by instrumental examinations of the laryngeal articulatory mechanism, it revises our understanding of articulatory postures to explain the actions, vibrations and resonances generated in the epilarynx and pharynx. It focuses on the long-term auditory-articulatory component of accent in the languages of the world, explaining how voice quality relates to segmental and syllabic sounds. Phonetic illustrations of phonation types and of laryngeal and oral vocal tract articulatory postures are provided. Extensive video and audio material is available on a companion website. The book presents computational simulations, the laryngeal and voice quality foundations of infant speech acquisition, speech/voice disorders and surgeries that entail compensatory laryngeal articulator adjustment, and an exploration of the role of voice quality in sound change and of the larynx in the evolution of speech.

John H. Esling is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. Scott R. Moisik is Assistant Professor in the Division of Linguistics and Multilingual Studies at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Allison Benner is Humanities and Fine Arts Co-op Coordinator at the University of Victoria, British Columbia. Lise Crevier-Buchman is a Senior Research Fellow at the National Scientific Research Centre (CNRS), Paris.