View source for Voice (phonetics)

{{Short description|Term used in phonetics and phonology}}
{{Redirect|Voiced|the organization|Virtual Organization for Innovative Conceptual Engineering Design}}
{{Phonetics}}
{{Infobox IPA
| above      = Voiced
| ipa symbol = ◌̬
| decimal    = 812
}}
{{Infobox IPA
| above = Voiceless
| ipa symbol   = ◌̥
| decimal = 805
}}

'''Voice''' or '''voicing''' is a term used in [[phonetics]] and [[phonology]] to characterize [[speech sound]]s (usually [[consonant]]s). Speech sounds can be described as either [[voicelessness|voiceless]] (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced.

The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts:
*Voicing can refer to the ''articulatory process'' in which the [[vocal folds]] vibrate, its primary use in [[phonetics]] to describe [[phone (phonetics)|phones]], which are particular speech sounds. 
*It can also refer to a classification of speech sounds that tend to be associated with vocal cord vibration but may not actually be voiced at the articulatory level. That is the term's primary use in [[phonology]]: to describe [[phoneme]]s; while in [[phonetics]] its primary use is to describe phones.

For example, voicing accounts for the difference between the pair of sounds associated with the English letters [[Bracket#Uses_of_⟨_⟩|⟨s⟩]] and ⟨z⟩. The two sounds are transcribed as {{IPA|[s]}} and {{IPA|[z]}} to distinguish them from the English letters, which have several possible pronunciations, depending on the context. If one places the fingers on the voice box (i.e., the location of the [[Adam's apple]] in the upper throat), one can feel a [[oscillation|vibration]] while [z] is pronounced but not with [s]. (For a more detailed, technical explanation, see [[modal voice]] and [[phonation]].) In most [[Languages of Europe|European languages]], with a notable exception being [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]], [[vowel]]s and other [[sonorant]]s (consonants such as ''m, n, l,'' and ''r)'' are [[modal voice|modally voiced]].{{cn|date=November 2023}}

[[Yidiny language|Yidiny]] has no underlyingly voiceless consonants, only voiced ones.<ref>[[R. M. W. Dixon]]. (1977). ''A Grammar of Yidiny''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</ref>

When used to classify speech sounds, '''voiced''' and '''unvoiced''' are merely labels used to group [[phone (phonetics)|phones]] and [[phoneme]]s together for the purposes of classification.

==Notation==

The [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] has distinct letters for many voiceless and voiced pairs of consonants (the [[obstruent]]s), such as {{IPA|[p b], [t d], [k ɡ], [q ɢ]}}. In addition, there is a diacritic for voicedness: ⟨{{IPA|◌&#x032C;}}⟩. [[Diacritic|Diacritics]] are typically used with letters for prototypically voiceless sounds.

In [[Unicode]], the symbols are encoded {{unichar|032C|COMBINING CARON BELOW|html=|cwith=◌}} and {{unichar|0325|COMBINING RING BELOW|html=|cwith=◌}}.

The [[extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet]] have a notation for partial voicing and devoicing as well as for [[prevoicing]]:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan=4|Partial (de)voicing<ref>The parentheses should appear under the letter, but that is not fully supported by Unicode. As of version 8.0, only central voicing and devoicing, {{IPA|[s̬&#x1ABD;]}} and {{IPA|[z̥&#x1ABD;]}}, is encoded.</ref>
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|₍s̬₎}}
| partial/central voicing of {{IPA|[s]}}
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|₍z̥₎}}
| partial/central devoicing of {{IPA|[z]}}
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|₍s̬}}
| initial voicing
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|₍z̥}}
| initial devoicing
|-
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|s̬₎}}
| final voicing
| style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | {{IPA|z̥₎}}
| final devoicing
|}

Partial voicing can mean light but continuous voicing, discontinuous voicing, or discontinuities in the degree of voicing. For example, {{IPA|₍s̬₎}} could be an {{IPA|[s]}} with (some) voicing in the middle and {{IPA|₍z̥₎}} could be {{IPA|[z]}} with (some) devoicing in the middle.

Partial voicing can also be indicated in the normal IPA with transcriptions like {{IPA|[ᵇb̥iˑ]}} and {{IPA|[ædᵈ̥]}}.<ref>Kretzschmar (1993) ''[https://www.jstor.org/stable/415977 Handbook of the Linguistic Atlas of the Middle and South Atlantic States]'', University of Chicago Press, p. 122.</ref>

==In English==
The distinction between the articulatory use of voice and the phonological use rests on the distinction between [[phone (phonetics)|phone]] (represented between square brackets) and [[phoneme]] (represented between slashes). The difference is best illustrated by a rough example.

The English word ''nods'' is made up of a sequence of phonemes, represented symbolically as {{IPA|/nɒdz/}}, or the sequence of {{IPA|/n/}}, {{IPA|/ɒ/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, and {{IPA|/z/}}. Each symbol is an abstract representation of a phoneme. That awareness is an inherent part of speakers' mental grammar that allows them to recognise words.

However, phonemes are not sounds in themselves. Rather, phonemes are, in a sense, converted to phones before being spoken. The {{IPA|/z/}} phoneme, for instance, can actually be pronounced as either the {{IPA|[s]}} phone or the {{IPA|[z]}} phone since {{IPA|/z/}} is frequently devoiced, even in fluent speech, especially at the end of an utterance. The sequence of phones for ''nods'' might be transcribed as {{IPA|[nɒts]}} or {{IPA|[nɒdz]}}, depending on the presence or strength of this devoicing. While the {{IPA|[z]}} phone has articulatory voicing, the {{IPA|[s]}} phone does not have it.

What complicates the matter is that for English, consonant phonemes are classified as either voiced or voiceless even though it is not the primary distinctive feature between them. Still, the classification is used as a stand-in for phonological processes, such as vowel lengthening that occurs before voiced consonants but not before unvoiced consonants or vowel quality changes (the sound of the vowel) in some dialects of English that occur before unvoiced but not voiced consonants. Such processes allow English speakers to continue to perceive difference between voiced and voiceless consonants when the devoicing of the former would otherwise make them sound identical to the latter.

English has four pairs of [[fricative]] phonemes that can be divided into a table by [[place of articulation]] and voicing. The voiced fricatives can readily be felt to have voicing throughout the duration of the phone especially when they occur between vowels.

{|class="wikitable"
|+Voicing contrast in English fricatives via [[minimal pair]]s
! Articulation
! Voiceless
! Voiced
|-
|Pronounced with the lower lip against the teeth:
|{{IPA|[f]}} ('''''f'''an'')
|{{IPA|[v]}} ('''''v'''an'')
|-
|Pronounced with the tongue against the teeth:
|{{IPA|[θ]}} ''('''th'''in, '''th'''igh)''
|{{IPA|[ð]}} ''('''th'''en, '''th'''y)''
|-
|Pronounced with the tongue near the gums:
|{{IPA|[s]}} ('''''s'''ip'')
|{{IPA|[z]}} ('''''z'''ip'')
|-
|Pronounced with the tongue bunched up:
|{{IPA|[ʃ]}} ''(Confu'''ci'''an)''
|{{IPA|[ʒ]}} ''(confu'''si'''on)''
|}

However, in the class of consonants called [[stop consonant|stop]]s, such as {{IPA|/p, t, k, b, d, ɡ/}}, the contrast is more complicated for English. The "voiced" sounds do not typically feature articulatory voicing throughout the sound. The difference between the unvoiced stop phonemes and the voiced stop phonemes is not just a matter of whether articulatory voicing is present or not. Rather, it includes [[voice onset time|when voicing starts]] (if at all), the presence of [[aspirated consonant|aspiration]] (airflow burst following the release of the closure) and the duration of the closure and aspiration.

English voiceless stops are generally [[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] at the beginning of a stressed syllable, and in the same context, their voiced counterparts are voiced only partway through.  In more narrow [[phonetic transcription]], the voiced symbols are maybe used only to represent the presence of articulatory voicing, and aspiration is represented with a superscript ''h''.

{|class="wikitable"
|+ Voicing contrast in English stops
! Articulation
! Unvoiced
! Voiced
|-
|Pronounced with the lips closed:
|{{IPA|[p]}} ('''''p'''in'')
|{{IPA|[b]}} ('''''b'''in'')
|-
|Pronounced with the tongue near the gums:
|{{IPA|[t]}} ('''''t'''en'')
|{{IPA|[d]}} ('''''d'''en'')
|-
|Pronounced with the tongue bunched up:
|{{IPA|[tʃ]}} ('''''ch'''in'')
|{{IPA|[dʒ]}} ('''''g'''in'')
|-
|Pronounced with the back of the tongue against the palate:
|{{IPA|[k]}} ('''''c'''oat'')
|{{IPA|[ɡ]}} ('''''g'''oat'')
|}

When the consonants come at the end of a syllable, however, what distinguishes them is quite different. Voiceless phonemes are typically unaspirated, [[glottalization|glottalized]] and the closure itself may not even be released, making it sometimes difficult to hear the difference between, for example, ''light'' and ''like''. However, auditory cues remain to distinguish between voiced and voiceless sounds, such as what has been described above, like the length of the preceding vowel.

Other English sounds, the vowels and sonorants, are normally fully voiced. However, they may be devoiced in certain positions, especially after aspirated consonants, as in ''c'''o'''ffee'', ''t'''r'''ee'', and ''p'''l'''ay'' in which the voicing is delayed to the extent of missing the sonorant or vowel altogether.

==Degrees of voicing==
There are two variables to degrees of voicing: intensity (discussed under [[phonation]]), and duration (discussed under [[voice onset time]]). When a sound is described as "half voiced" or "partially voiced", it is not always clear whether that means that the voicing is weak (low intensity) or if the voicing occurs during only part of the sound (short duration). In the case of English, it is the latter.

[[Juǀʼhoan language|Juǀʼhoansi]] and some of its neighboring languages are typologically unusual in having contrastive partially-voiced consonants. They have aspirate and [[ejective]] consonants, which are normally incompatible with voicing, in voiceless and voiced pairs.<ref>Consonants that are called "voiced aspirate" normally have [[breathy voice]], not voiceless aspiration, as in Juǀʼhoansi, [[Taa language|Taa]] and similar languages.</ref> The consonants start out voiced but become voiceless partway through and allow normal aspiration or ejection. They are {{IPA|[b͡pʰ, d͡tʰ, d͡tsʰ, d͡tʃʰ, ɡ͡kʰ]}} and {{IPA|[d͡tsʼ, d͡tʃʼ]}} and a similar series of clicks, [[Lun Bawang language|Lun Bawang]] contrasts them with plain voiced and voicelesses like /p, b, b͡p/.<ref>{{SOWL|63, 80–81}}</ref>

==Voice and tenseness==
There are languages with two sets of contrasting [[obstruent]]s that are labelled {{IPA|/p t k f s x …/}} vs. {{IPA|/b d ɡ v z ɣ …/}} even though there is no involvement of voice (or voice onset time) in that contrast. That happens, for instance, in several [[Alemannic German]] dialects. Because voice is not involved, this is explained as a contrast in [[tenseness]], called a [[fortis and lenis]] contrast.

There is a hypothesis that the contrast between fortis and lenis consonants is related to the contrast between voiceless and voiced consonants. That relation is based on sound perception as well as on sound production, where consonant voice, tenseness and [[gemination|length]] are only different manifestations of a common sound feature.

== See also ==
* [[Consonant voicing and devoicing]]
* [[Dyscravia]]
* [[List of language disorders]]
* [[Manner of articulation]]
* [[Phonation]]
* [[Place of articulation]]
* [[Voice onset time]]
* [[Voicelessness]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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