Alaryngeal speech
Encyclopedia
Alaryngeal speech is speech
made using sources other than the glottis
in the larynx
to create voice
sound. There are three types: esophageal
, buccal and pharyngeal speech. Each of these uses an alternative method of creating speech-like phonation
to that normally provided by the vocal cords. These forms of alaryngeal speech are also called “pseudo-voices".
from the esophagus
and pharyngo-esophageal segment to act as a replacement for the glottis
. It is usually acquired following speech therapy after laryngectomy
as a replacement for laryngeal speech.
that can act as an alternative “lung
”. The person then uses muscular action to drive the air through a small gap between or behind the teeth into the mouth. The sound so produced makes a high rough sound. This then is articulated to make speech. It is usually acquired as a taught or self-learnt skill for entertainment. It can be used as a method of singing. It is also known as Donald Duck talk due to its use by Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash
for the voice of the Disney Donald Duck
character.
and creating a replacement for the glottis using the tongue
and the upper alveolus, the palate
, or the pharyngeal wall.
In one case it was studied in a 12 year old girl that used following tracheotomy
at 2 years of age as her exclusive form of speech. Such speech was impaired in spite of ten years of her exclusive use of it for communication. Half her time while speaking was silence. Of the other half, half that was spent creating “quasiperiodic” speech-like sound and half noise. This produced an “unpleasant, markedly hoarse voice quality which was consistently evident in her pharyngeal speech. This contrasts with skilled esophageal speakers that spend less than 20% of their time producing noise. Such speech has limited success in making some place of articulation
and especially manner of articulation
and voicing
phonetic distinctions. Also there are difficulties in creating consonant clusters and polysyllabic words. Such speech was "generally well understood by immediate family members" but "reported to be largely unintelligible to outsiders".
A further importance is to theories of the evolution of human speech since alaryngeal speech shows that speech is not dependent entirely upon evolved anatomy as it can be created using vocal tract anatomy in an adaptive manner
.
Buccal speech (Donald Duck talk)
Speech
Speech is the human faculty of speaking.It may also refer to:* Public speaking, the process of speaking to a group of people* Manner of articulation, how the body parts involved in making speech are manipulated...
made using sources other than the glottis
Glottis
The glottis is defined as the combination of the vocal folds and the space in between the folds .-Function:...
in the larynx
Larynx
The larynx , commonly called the voice box, is an organ in the neck of amphibians, reptiles and mammals involved in breathing, sound production, and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. It manipulates pitch and volume...
to create voice
Voice
Voice may refer to:* Human voice* Voice control or voice activation* Writer's voice* Voice acting* Voice vote* Voice message-In film:* Voice , a 2005 South Korean film* The Voice , a 2010 Turkish horror film directed by Ümit Ünal...
sound. There are three types: esophageal
Esophageal speech
Esophageal speech, also known as esophageal voice, is a method of speech production that involves oscillation of the esophagus. This contrasts with traditional laryngeal speech which involves oscillation of the vocal folds. Instead, air is injected into the upper esophagus and then released in a...
, buccal and pharyngeal speech. Each of these uses an alternative method of creating speech-like phonation
Phonation
Phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the definition used among those who study laryngeal anatomy and physiology...
to that normally provided by the vocal cords. These forms of alaryngeal speech are also called “pseudo-voices".
Esophageal speech
Esophageal speech uses air supply to create phonationPhonation
Phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the definition used among those who study laryngeal anatomy and physiology...
from the esophagus
Esophagus
The esophagus is an organ in vertebrates which consists of a muscular tube through which food passes from the pharynx to the stomach. During swallowing, food passes from the mouth through the pharynx into the esophagus and travels via peristalsis to the stomach...
and pharyngo-esophageal segment to act as a replacement for the glottis
Glottis
The glottis is defined as the combination of the vocal folds and the space in between the folds .-Function:...
. It is usually acquired following speech therapy after laryngectomy
Laryngectomy
Laryngectomy is the removal of the larynx and separation of the airway from the mouth, nose and esophagus. The laryngectomee breathes through an opening in the neck, a stoma. This procedure is usually performed in cases of laryngeal cancer...
as a replacement for laryngeal speech.
Buccal speech
This is created by producing an air bubble between the left upper jaw and the cheekCheek
Cheeks constitute the area of the face below the eyes and between the nose and the left or right ear. They may also be referred to as jowls. "Buccal" means relating to the cheek. In humans, the region is innervated by the buccal nerve...
that can act as an alternative “lung
Lung
The lung is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart...
”. The person then uses muscular action to drive the air through a small gap between or behind the teeth into the mouth. The sound so produced makes a high rough sound. This then is articulated to make speech. It is usually acquired as a taught or self-learnt skill for entertainment. It can be used as a method of singing. It is also known as Donald Duck talk due to its use by Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash
Clarence Nash
Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash was an American voice actor, best known for providing the voice of Donald Duck for the Walt Disney Studios...
for the voice of the Disney Donald Duck
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
character.
- sung buccal voice can have a range of three octaves (69 Hz to 571 Hz)
- maximum duration of phonation for a series of sustained vowels is 2 seconds.
- oral reading can be done at 131 wpm
- from most intelligible to least: glideSemivowelIn phonetics and phonology, a semivowel is a sound, such as English or , that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary rather than as the nucleus of a syllable.-Classification:...
s, fricatives, plosives, affricates, and nasalNasal consonantA nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...
s. - on rhyme-test 76% of buccal spoken words were intelligible.
- buccal speech is more than two octaves above that of esophageal speakers (this gives it a raised pitch compared to normal speech).
Pharyngeal speech
This is created by producing the air supply needed for phonation in the pharynxPharynx
The human pharynx is the part of the throat situated immediately posterior to the mouth and nasal cavity, and anterior to the esophagus and larynx. The human pharynx is conventionally divided into three sections: the nasopharynx , the oropharynx , and the laryngopharynx...
and creating a replacement for the glottis using the tongue
Tongue
The tongue is a muscular hydrostat on the floors of the mouths of most vertebrates which manipulates food for mastication. It is the primary organ of taste , as much of the upper surface of the tongue is covered in papillae and taste buds. It is sensitive and kept moist by saliva, and is richly...
and the upper alveolus, the palate
Palate
The palate is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but, in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly separate. The palate is divided into two parts, the anterior...
, or the pharyngeal wall.
In one case it was studied in a 12 year old girl that used following tracheotomy
Tracheotomy
Among the oldest described surgical procedures, tracheotomy consists of making an incision on the anterior aspect of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea...
at 2 years of age as her exclusive form of speech. Such speech was impaired in spite of ten years of her exclusive use of it for communication. Half her time while speaking was silence. Of the other half, half that was spent creating “quasiperiodic” speech-like sound and half noise. This produced an “unpleasant, markedly hoarse voice quality which was consistently evident in her pharyngeal speech. This contrasts with skilled esophageal speakers that spend less than 20% of their time producing noise. Such speech has limited success in making some place of articulation
Place of articulation
In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation of a consonant is the point of contact where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract between an articulatory gesture, an active articulator , and a passive location...
and especially manner of articulation
Manner of articulation
In linguistics, manner of articulation describes how the tongue, lips, jaw, and other speech organs are involved in making a sound. Often the concept is only used for the production of consonants, even though the movement of the articulars will also greatly alter the resonant properties of the...
and voicing
Voice (phonetics)
Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate...
phonetic distinctions. Also there are difficulties in creating consonant clusters and polysyllabic words. Such speech was "generally well understood by immediate family members" but "reported to be largely unintelligible to outsiders".
Importance
Pharyngeal speech can be produced in the early stages of learning esophageal speech. However both buccal and pharyngeal speech are less clear than trained esophageal speech and “should not be regarded as a desirable or practical primary method of alaryngeal speech”.A further importance is to theories of the evolution of human speech since alaryngeal speech shows that speech is not dependent entirely upon evolved anatomy as it can be created using vocal tract anatomy in an adaptive manner
Exaptation
Exaptation, cooption, and preadaptation are related terms referring to shifts in the function of a trait during evolution. For example, a trait can evolve because it served one particular function, but subsequently it may come to serve another. Exaptations are common in both anatomy and behaviour...
.
See also
- Electrolarynx
- PhonationPhonationPhonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the definition used among those who study laryngeal anatomy and physiology...
- Vocal extended techniqueVocal extended techniqueVocalists are capable of producing a variety of extended technique sounds. These alternative singing techniques have been used extensively in the 20th century, especially in art song and opera...
- Whistled languageWhistled languageWhistled languages use whistling to emulate speech and facilitate communication. A whistled language is a system of whistled communication which allows fluent whistlers to transmit and comprehend a potentially unlimited number of messages over long distances...
External references
Esophageal speechBuccal speech (Donald Duck talk)
- Buccal speech explanation with sound samples
- Donald duck talk Example on Youtube