Voice Quality Symbols

Voice Quality Symbols (VoQS) are a set of phonetic symbols used for voice quality, such as to transcribe disordered speech.

VoQS symbols are normally combined with curly braces that span a section of speech, just as with prosody notation in the extended IPA. The symbols may be modified with a digit to convey relative degree of the quality. For example, ⟨V!⟩ is used for harsh voice, and {3V! ... 3V!} indicates that the intervening speech is very harsh. ⟨L̞⟩ indicates a lowered larynx. Thus, {L̞1V! ... 1V!L̞} indicates that the intervening speech is less harsh with a lowered larynx.

VoQS use mostly IPA or extended IPA diacritics on capital letters for the element being modified: V for 'voice', L for 'larynx', and J for 'jaw'. Degree is marked 1 for slight, 2 for moderate, and 3 for extreme.

Symbols

The following combinations of letters and diacritics are used. They indicate an airstream mechanism, phonation or secondary articulation across a stretch of speech. For example, 'palatalized voice' indicates palatalization of the segment of speech spanned by the braces.

airstream mechanisms

{ↀ} buccal speech (symbol is iconic for the pockets of air in the cheeks)

{Œ} œsophageal speech (symbol derives from the letter œ of œsophagus)

{Ю} tracheo-œsophaeal speech (symbol attempts to capture iconically the dual nature of the airstream)

{↓} pulmonic ingressive speech

phonation types

The four primary phonation types, other than breathed (voiceless), receive a distinct letter:

{V} modal voice

{F} falsetto

{W} whisper (typically only the normally modal-voice segments are whispery, while the voiceless segments remain voiceless)

{C} creak

Modifications are made with diacritics. The terms "whispery voice/murmur" and "breathy voice" follow Catford (1977) and differ from the use of "murmur/breathy voice" by the IPA. The notation {Ṿ} and {V̤} are therefore often confused, and {V̤} should perhaps be used for whispery voice with e.g. {Vʱ} for breathy voice.

{Ṿ} whispery voice (murmur; the breathy voice of the IPA)

{V̰} creaky voice

{V̤} breathy voice

{C̣} whispery creak

{V͉} slack/lax voice

{V!} harsh voice (without ventricular vibration; this may differ from the use of the word "harsh" cross-linguistically, which may be the same as "ventricular", next)

{V‼} ventricular phonation

{V̬‼} diplophonia (simultaneous ventricular and glottal vibration; see also vocal-fold cyst)

{Ṿ‼} whispery ventricular phonation

{V^Ꜳ} aryepiglottic phonation

{V͈} pressed phonation/tight voice (made by pressing together the arytenoid cartilages so that only the anterior ligamental vocal folds vibrate; the opposite of whisper, where the vibration is posterior)

{W͈} tight whisper

{ꟿ} spasmodic dysphonia

{И} electrolaryngeal phonation (approximates symbol for electricity)

supra-laryngeal settings

{L̝} raised larynx

{L̞} lowered larynx

{Vꟹ} labialized voice (open rounded; that is, [◌ʷ̜])

{Vʷ} labialized voice (close rounded)

{V͍} spread-lip voice

{Vᶹ} labio-dentalized voice

{V̺} linguo-apicalized voice

{V̻} linguo-laminalized voice

{V˞} retroflex voice

{V̪} dentalized voice (diacritic iconic for a tooth)

{V͇} alveolarized voice (diacritic iconic for the alveolar ridge)

{V͇ʲ} palatoalveolarized voice

{Vʲ} palatalized voice

{Vˠ} velarized voice

{Vʶ} uvularized voice (self-evidence extension of IPA usage)

{Vˤ} pharyngealized voice

{V̙ˤ} laryngo-pharyngealized voice

{Vꟸ} faucalized voice (iconic of narrowing of faucal pillars)

{Ṽ} nasalized voice

{V͊} denasalized voice

{J̞} open-jaw voice

{J̝} close-jaw voice

{J͔} right-offset-jaw voice

{J͕} left-offset-jaw voice

{J̟} protruded-jaw voice

{Θ} protruded-tongue voice (protrusion of the tip or blade of the tongue for extended periods)

Other combinations are possible, such as {Ṿ̃} for nasal whispery voice or {WF̰} for whispery creaky falsetto. If the number of diacritics on a letter becomes excessive, the notation may be broken up. For example, {Ṿ̰̃ˠ} may be replaced with {VˠṼṾV̰}.

See also

• Extensions to the IPA
• International Phonetic Alphabet