What is a voice?

Gussenhoven's article explaining how humans physically produce speech fascinated me. It's an interesting point that our organs of speech have separate, primary functions for our respiratory system and eating food. It seems odd that speaking - something so fundamental in life - is derived from organs in our bodies that are meant to have radically different functions. Our speech sounds in English are pulmonic and egressive, meaning they use our lungs and exhalation phase. Learning the particular anatomical processes behind speaking made me realize our society's common misconception of the definition of "voice." I used to think that the word "voice" was synonymous with producing any sounds, including speaking and even singing. Gussenhoven demonstrates the complexity behind speech because humans produce voiceless sounds as well, when the glottis is open. Voice is only one type of phonation made when our vocal cords vibrate.

I really liked learning about the separate organs within the vocal tract, and their corresponding functions. I had a cold last week and I could notice that my speech and breathing were altered. I understand now that it was because mucus blocked my nasal cavity, making me only able to make oral sounds. I can also better understand the Johnson reading from last week because I know more about what a vocal tract actually is. Johnson stated that height is highly correlated with vocal tract length, and the biology behind why children and females have typically higher pitched voices due to their vocal tract lengths is clear.

Gussenhoven also explains many types of constrictions through the different places that we can articulate. It can be dorsal if we articulate with the roof of our mouth, coronal if we use our teeth, or labial if we use either both lips or the bottom lip with upper teeth. Obstruents - plosives, fricatives, and affricates - are used if the constriction leads to friction, and sonorants - nasals and approximates- are used if there's no friction.

I never realized how many types of complex sounds the human body could make. We don't consciously observe which type of phonation or constriction we're producing every time we say a sound. We also don't normally think about the phonological rules that Kenstowicz presents. His article demonstrates that a variety of different sounds can be made from a single phoneme. We saw this in class on Thursday when we discussed how the phoneme [t] can make many sounds.

His article makes me question how languages arise, and how they constructed their specific phonological rules. Kenstowicz cites several examples of sounds that are found within words from other languages. Foreign languages even have sounds that are never found in the English language. I am currently studying German, so I am also really curious about the process of learning these systematic rules. I never have to think about the specifics underlying the sounds I produce in English, but I can see how analyzing German phonological rules could enhance my pronunciation.