PHONATION

Physical part of the vocal system:

1. Actuators: Lungs/diaphragm/intercostal muscles; these organs deal with breathing/“air
management”
2. Vibrator: larynx; this deals with the creation of pitch in the form of a sound wave
3. Resonators: Throat (pharynx), mouth/lips/teeth, nose; these deal with the modification of sound
into varying accents

Anatomy related to phonation: larynx
• It has several functions:
o Act as sphincter to protect lower airway during swallowing
o Act as a valve to control air pressure and air flow
o Act as vibrator to produce sound

• Vocal cord/ fold/ ligament
o Housed with protective cartilage
o Vocal folds very small {18mm - women ; 23mm -men}
o Part of fold responsible for sound production is further smaller during phonation – only
anterior part of fold is free to vibrate
o Appearance : Pearly white bands looks like “ V ” on rest
o During phonation they close together at Posterior part
o Bottom of this V points to front of neck and Adams apple
o above the folds pink-coloured ventricular folds , also k/a false vocal folds

Theory for phonation - myoelastic aerodynamic theory
o Phonation is related to vibration ASSISTED by muscular activities ONLY
§ To sing vocal folds must open and close at a much faster rate up to 1400 times / sec
§ No muscles can do this
o Each vibratory cycle of the vocal folds consists of three phases
§ 1. Adduction
§ 2. Aerodynamic separation
• As the increased subglottic air pressure overcomes the resistance of the
adducted vocal folds at the onset of phonation, the vocal folds peel apart
from their inferior border.

§ 3. Recoil
• When they finally separate at their superior margin, a puff of air is released.
The resulting negative pressure in the glottis, caused by the Bernoulli effect,
results in the vocal folds closing rapidly as they are sucked together, the
inferior vocal fold margins closing first.

Ø The Bernouilli effect
o ‘When air passes from one large space to another (e.g. from lung
to pharynx), through a constriction (the glottis), the velocity will
be greatest and the pressure least at the site of the
constriction.’
o As a result of the drop in pressure at the glottis, the vocal fold
mucosa is drawn into space between the vocal folds.












Effects of Cleft Lip and Palate on Speech
• Resonance and Airflow
o Normal velopharyngeal (VP) closure
§ separates the nasal and oral cavities and allows for speech to be produced with a
balance between oral and nasal resonance.
§ with normal resonance balance, nasal consonants /m/, /n/, and "ng" have nasal
energy enhancement.
o Velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD; also referred to as velopharyngeal inadequacy [VPI])
§ During speech production, VPD can cause hypernasality (a resonance disorder), nasal
air emission, or both.
• Hypernasality is an acoustic phenomenon that occurs when there is excessive
resonance in the nasal cavity during production of vowels and vocalic consonants
due to coupling of the oral and nasal cavities
• Nasal air emission is an aerodynamic phenomenon resulting in audible or inaudible
release of air from the nasal cavity during production of oral pressure consonants. It
can be heard as nasal turbulence (nasal rustle). Nasal air emission can also be caused
by airflow through a palatal fistula into the nasal cavities.
Other minor effects
Primary Palate Clefts Short upper lip Affects bilabial competence
at rest and production of
May be relative due to position of premaxilla or bilabial phonemes
due to dysmorphology or the repair surgery

Nasal deformities Include deviated septum, nasal cavity blockage, Can cause hyponasality or
choanal atresia cul-de-sac resonance
Dental/occlusal Dental abnormalities: Missing teeth in the line of
abnormalities the cleft, supernumerary or Particularly affect
malpositioned teeth, anterior or posterior articulation of sibilants (/s/,
crossbite /z/, / ʃ/, /ʒ/, /ʧ/, /ʤ/)
Malocclusions: Open bite, protruding premaxilla, Can affect labio-dentals (f,
Class II or Class III malocclusion v), lingual-alveolars (t, d, n,
l), or even bilabials (p, b, m)
Speech may include
obligatory distortions (due
to abnormal structure) or
compensatory
errors (abnormal structure
and function)