*51. Zünd-Burguet’s Voice Indicator (fig. 7) is a convenient instrument for testing the presence of voice.[1]
Fig. 7. Zünd-Burguet’s Voice Indicator.
The flat side of the instrument is placed firmly against one side of the larynx, and when voiced sounds are produced the instrument rattles, though when breathed sounds are produced it remains silent.[2]
*52. The presence or absence of voice may also be tested by means of the kymograph (see Chap. XXI).
CHAPTER VI
CLASSIFICATION OF SOUNDS
53. Every speech sound belongs to one or other of the two main classes known as Vowels and Consonants.
54. A vowel (in normal speech[3]) is defined as a voiced sound in which the air has a free passage through the mouth, and does not produce any audible friction. All other sounds (in normal speech[3]) are called consonants.
55. Consonants therefore include (i) all sounds which are not voiced (e.g. p, s, h), (ii) all sounds in which the air has an impeded passage through the mouth (e.g. b, l, rolled r), (iii) all sounds in which the air does not pass through the month (e.g. m), (iv) all sounds in which there is audible friction (e. g. f, v).
56. The distinction between vowels and consonants is not an arbitrary physiological distinction. It is in reality a distinction based on acoustic considerations, namely on the relative sonority of the various sounds. Some sounds are more sonorous than others, that is to say
- ↑ It is obtainable direct from M. Zünd-Burguet, 25 rue du Général Foy, Paris, price 8 francs.
- ↑ This instrument responds excellently to voiced consonants and close vowels, but it does not always respond well to the opener vowels, especially the opener front vowels such as ɛ, a.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Whispered speech is not considered as normal. In whispered speech “voice” is replaced throughout by “whisper” and every sound consists of audible friction and nothing else (except the “stops” of breathed plosives, which have no sound at all). The term “whispered vowels” is commonly used to designate sounds produced with the organs in the same positions as for the sounds defined as “vowels” in § 54, but with “whisper” substituted for “voice”. There is no objection to this terminology; but it should be noted that if a whispered vowel were to occur in speech next to a voiced one, the whispered vowel would have to be regarded as a consonant. This may be seen by pronouncing a whispered ɑ immediately followed by a voiced ɑ. The result resembles hɑ with a very strong kind of h.
