ISCA Archive ICSLP 1992
ISCA Archive ICSLP 1992

The behavior of the larynx in spoken language production

Hajime Hirose

There is a concensus that the larynx is the organ of voice. Less well recognized is the role it serves in speech production. Recently, it has been shown that the larynx is a major contributor to articulatory adjustments. These laryngeal adjustments are produced by coordinated activities of the intrinsic and extrinsic muscles of the larynx. Since the introduction of fiberscopic and electromyographic techniques to the field of experimental phonetics, the nature of laryngeal adjustments in different languages has been explored in more detail than herefore was possible. Further, the use of different types of glottography and computer-controlled image analysis opened a new scope in laryngeal physiology. In this paper, the physiological correlates of basic features of laryngeal articulatory adjustments are discussed, based on the results obtained using a combination of recently developed experimental techniques.