What are our voices capable of? Phonetic perspective on the variability of speech production

Abstract

The paper surveys the plasticity of the speech production mechanism. At the phonatory level it examines the melodic behaviour and phonatory modifications, at the supraglottal level it describes the modifications to the primary makeup of speech sounds.

The emphasis of the paper is placed on the communicative use of phonatory and articulatory modifications for conveying various aspects of the communicative intent, including one§s social identity.

Keywords

• speech production
• phonation
• articulation
• speech variability
• speech perception