Voice Quality Symbols (VoQS) are a set of phonetic symbols used to transcribe disordered speech for what in speech pathology is known as "voice quality". This phrase is usually synonymous with phonation in phonetics, but in speech pathology encompasses secondary articulation as well.
VoQS symbols are normally combined with curly braces that span a section of speech, just as with prosody notation in the extended IPA (extIPA). In fact, they started off as part of extIPA before being split off.[1] The symbols may be modified with a digit to convey relative degree of the quality. For example, (IPA|V!) is used for harsh voice, and pronounced as // indicates that the intervening speech is very harsh. (IPA|L̞) indicates a lowered larynx. Thus, pronounced as // 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'/articulation, L for 'larynx', and J for 'jaw'. Degree is marked 1 for slight, 2 for moderate, and 3 for extreme.
The following combinations of letters and diacritics are used.[2] They indicate an airstream mechanism, phonation or secondary articulation across a stretch of speech. For example, 'palatalized voice' indicates palatalization of all segments of speech spanned by the braces.
Several of these symbols may be profitably used as part of single speech sounds, in addition to indicating voice qualities across spans of speech. For example, pronounced as /[ↀ͡r̪͆ː]/ is blowing a raspberry. pronounced as /[ɬ↓ʔ]/ is the l* sound in Damin while pronounced as /[{↓ ... ↓}]/ is a string of ingressive speech.
The airstream mechanism is the process for generating the flow of air required for speech.
pronounced as // buccal speech (symbol is iconic for the pockets of air in the cheeks)
pronounced as // œsophageal speech (symbol derives from the letter œ of œsophagus)
pronounced as // tracheo-œsophageal speech (symbol attempts to capture iconically the dual nature of the airstream)
pronounced as // pulmonic ingressive speech
The four primary phonation types, other than voiceless, each receive a distinct letter:
pronounced as // falsetto
pronounced as // whisper (Typically only the normally modally voiced segments are whispery, while the voiceless segments remain voiceless. Note that this "whisper" is distinct from the "whispery voice" below.)
pronounced as // creak
Modifications are made with diacritics. The terms "whispery voice" and "breathy voice" follow Catford (1977) and differ from the vocabulary of the IPA, with VoQS "whispery voice" being equivalent to IPA "breathy voice" / "murmur". The notations pronounced as // and pronounced as // are therefore often confused, and pronounced as // should perhaps be used for VoQS "whispery voice" with e.g. pronounced as // for VoQS "breathy voice".[3]
pronounced as // whispery voice (murmur; the breathy voice of the IPA)
pronounced as // creaky voice
pronounced as // breathy voice
pronounced as // whispery creak
creaky falsetto
pronounced as // slack/lax voice
pronounced as // 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)
harsh creaky voice
harsh creak
pronounced as // ventricular phonation
pronounced as // diplophonia (simultaneous ventricular and glottal vibration; see also vocal-fold cyst)
pronounced as // whispery ventricular phonation
pronounced as // aryepiglottic phonation
pronounced as // 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)
pronounced as // tight whisper
pronounced as // spasmodic dysphonia
pronounced as // electrolaryngeal phonation (approximates symbol for electricity)
pronounced as // raised larynx
pronounced as // lowered larynx
pronounced as // faucalized voice (iconic of narrowing of faucal pillars)
pronounced as // zero airstream[4]
These settings involve secondary articulation, usually in addition to any articulation that would be expected for non-pathological speech. They are called voices because they affect the sound quality of the utterance (that is, the individual's human voice), though this usage contradicts the IPA use of the word "voice" for voicing. For illustration here, diacritics are combined with the letter 'V' for modal voice, as that is the default assumption. (They could also be combined with F, W, C, etc.)
pronounced as // labialized (open rounded; that is, pronounced as /[◌ʷ̜ ]/)
pronounced as // labialized (close rounded)
pronounced as // spread-lip
pronounced as // labio-dentalized
pronounced as // linguo-apicalized
pronounced as // linguo-laminalized
pronounced as // retroflex
pronounced as // dentalized (diacritic iconic for a tooth)
pronounced as // alveolarized (diacritic iconic for the alveolar ridge)
pronounced as // palatoalveolarized
pronounced as // palatalized
pronounced as // velarized
pronounced as // uvularized (self-evident extension of IPA usage)
pronounced as // laryngo-pharyngealized
pronounced as // nasalized
pronounced as // denasalized
pronounced as // open jaw (that is, more than the norm)
pronounced as // close jaw (more than the norm)
pronounced as // right-offset jaw
pronounced as // left-offset jaw
pronounced as // protruded jaw
pronounced as // protruded tongue (protrusion of the tip or blade of the tongue to an interdental position for extended periods)
Combinations of symbols are also used, such as pronounced as // for nasal whispery voice,[5] pronounced as // for whispery creaky falsetto,[3] or pronounced as // for ventricular phonation with nasal lisp.[6] If the number of diacritics on a letter becomes excessive, the notation may be broken up. For example, pronounced as // may be replaced with pronounced as //.
pronounced as /navigation/