Creaky voice

See also: Vocal fry register

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In linguistics, creaky voice (sometimes called laryngealisation, pulse phonation or, vocal fry or glottal fry), is a special kind of phonation^[1][2] in which the arytenoid cartilages in the larynx are drawn together; as a result, the vocal folds are compressed rather tightly, becoming relatively slack and compact. They vibrate irregularly at 20–50 pulses per second, about two octaves below the frequency of normal voicing, and the airflow through the glottis is very slow. However, although creaky voice may occur with very low pitch, as at the end of a long intonation unit, it can occur with any pitch.

A slight degree of laryngealisation, occurring e.g. in some Korean consonants is called "stiff voice".

The Danish prosodic feature stød is an example of a form of laryngealisation that has a phonemic function.

Creaky voice manifests itself in the idiolects of some American English speakers, particularly at the beginnings of sentences that the speaker wishes to "soft-pedal". Although this phenomenon is in general more prominent among female American English speakers than among male speakers, it is frequently adopted by older males in leadership positions in business and politics.

It can also occur accidentally when the speaker's throat is tired, or if the speaker is sick, and tries to reach very high notes.

[edit] Examples

You can hear examples of women featuring creaky voice in their speech on the site http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=9198 (at about 1:47 into the clip)

[edit] References

Ladefoged, Peter; Ian Maddieson (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8. 

[edit] See also

• Human Voice