Linguistic Role of the Larynx

Question 1

Glottal Stops (configurations)

Answer 1

Involved initial blockage of laryngeal airflow through full vocal fold adduction followed by an abrupt release of the vocal folds

(“uh-oh”)

Question 2

Glottal Fricatives (configurations)

Answer 2

Partial adduction of the vocal folds reduces the size of the glottis

Constriction of the glottis causes turbulent/noisy airflow

(“H” sound)

Question 3

Voice Onset Time

Answer 3

The time between the release of a stop and the onset of voicing for the following vowel

Requires coordination between events occurring in the laryngeal subsystem (voicing) and events occurring in the supralaryngeal subsystem (release of a stop)

Voiced stops: VOT = -75 to 25 ms
Voiceless stops: VOT = 60 to 100 ms

Question 4

Intonation Contour (how does the larynx change to produce it?)

Answer 4

• Change in F0 over an utterance
• Can be thought of as the “melody” of speech
• Primarily impacted by function of cricothyroid and thyroarytenoid muscles
• Can be used to signal sentence type
• Statements have falling intonation at the end
• Questions have rising intonation at the end

Question 5

Linguistic Stress (how does the larynx change to produce it?)

Answer 5

• Emphasis of a syllable or word relative to the rest of the utterance
• Can stress a word by:
  
  • Increasing the pitch
  • Increasing the intensity
  • Increasing the duration
• Changes to pitch and intensity involve the larynx directly