# Voice (phonetics)

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Term used in phonetics and phonology

Part of a series on Phonetics Subdisciplines Acoustic Articulatory Auditory Articulation Places of articulation Labial Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Laryngeal Manners of articulation Consonant Plosive Affricate Fricative Nasal Approximant Liquid Lateral Vowel Airstream mechanisms Pulmonic Glottalic Lingual Percussive Acoustics Phonation (Voicing) Fundamental frequency Glottis Pitch Pitch accent Source–filter model Tone Voicelessness Phonation types Modal Creaky Breathy Perception Acoustic cues Aphasia Categorical perception Hearing Neural encoding of sound Prosody Theories of speech perception Acoustic landmarks Exemplar theory Motor theory Linguistics v t e

Voiced ◌̬ Encoding Entity (decimal) ̬ Unicode (hex) U+032C

Voiceless ◌̥ ◌̊ Encoding Entity (decimal) ̥​̊ Unicode (hex) U+0325 U+030A

**Voice** or **voicing** is a term used in [phonetics](/source/Phonetics) and [phonology](/source/Phonology) to characterize [speech sounds](/source/Speech_sound) (usually [consonants](/source/Consonant)). Speech sounds can be described as either [voiceless](/source/Voicelessness) (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](/source/Vocal_folds) vibrate, its primary use in [phonetics](/source/Phonetics) to describe [phones](/source/Phone_(phonetics)), 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](/source/Phonology): to describe [phonemes](/source/Phoneme); while in [phonetics](/source/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 [⟨s⟩](/source/Bracket#Uses_of_⟨_⟩) and ⟨z⟩. The two sounds are transcribed as [s] and [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](/source/Adam's_apple) in the upper throat), one can feel a [vibration](/source/Oscillation) while [z] is pronounced but not with [s]. (For a more detailed, technical explanation, see [modal voice](/source/Modal_voice) and [phonation](/source/Phonation).) In most [European languages](/source/Languages_of_Europe), with a notable exception being [Icelandic](/source/Icelandic_language), [vowels](/source/Vowel) and other [sonorants](/source/Sonorant) (consonants such as *m, n, l,* and *r)* are [modally voiced](/source/Modal_voice).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

[Yidiny](/source/Yidiny_language) and [Yanyuwa](/source/Yanyuwa_language) have no underlyingly voiceless consonants, only voiced ones.[1]

When used to classify speech sounds, **voiced** and **unvoiced** are merely labels used to group [phones](/source/Phone_(phonetics)) and [phonemes](/source/Phoneme) together for the purposes of classification.

## Notation

The [International Phonetic Alphabet](/source/International_Phonetic_Alphabet) has distinct letters for many voiceless and voiced pairs of consonants (the [obstruents](/source/Obstruent)), such as [p b], [t d], [k ɡ], [q ɢ]. In addition, there is a diacritic for voicedness: ⟨◌̬⟩. [Diacritics](/source/Diacritic) are typically used with letters for prototypically voiceless sounds.

In [Unicode](/source/Unicode), the symbols are encoded U+032C ◌̬ COMBINING CARON BELOW and U+0325 ◌̥ COMBINING RING BELOW.

The [extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet](/source/Extensions_to_the_International_Phonetic_Alphabet) have a notation for partial voicing and devoicing as well as for [prevoicing](/source/Prevoicing):

Partial (de)voicing[2] ₍s̬₎ partial/central voicing of [s] ₍z̥₎ partial/central devoicing of [z] ₍s̬ initial voicing ₍z̥ initial devoicing s̬₎ final voicing z̥₎ final devoicing

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

Partial voicing can also be indicated in the normal IPA with transcriptions like [ᵇb̥iˑ] and [ædᵈ̥].[3]

## In English

The distinction between the articulatory use of voice and the phonological use rests on the distinction between [phone](/source/Phone_(phonetics)) (represented between square brackets) and [phoneme](/source/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 /nɒdz/, or the sequence of /n/, /ɒ/, /d/, and /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 /z/ phoneme, for instance, can actually be pronounced as either the [s] phone or the [z] phone since /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 [nɒts] or [nɒdz], depending on the presence or strength of this devoicing. While the [z] phone has articulatory voicing, the [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](/source/Fricative) phonemes that can be divided into a table by [place of articulation](/source/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.

Voicing contrast in English fricatives via minimal pairs Articulation Voiceless Voiced Pronounced with the lower lip against the teeth: [f] (fan) [v] (van) Pronounced with the tongue against the teeth: [θ] (thin, thigh) [ð] (then, thy) Pronounced with the tongue near the gums: [s] (sip) [z] (zip) Pronounced with the tongue bunched up: [ʃ] (Confucian) [ʒ] (confusion)

However, in the class of consonants called [stops](/source/Stop_consonant), such as /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 [when voicing starts](/source/Voice_onset_time) (if at all), the presence of [aspiration](/source/Aspirated_consonant) (airflow burst following the release of the closure) and the duration of the closure and aspiration.

English voiceless stops are generally [aspirated](/source/Aspirated_consonant) 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](/source/Phonetic_transcription), the voiced symbols are maybe used only to represent the presence of articulatory voicing, and aspiration is represented with a superscript *h*.

Voicing contrast in English stops Articulation Unvoiced Voiced Pronounced with the lips closed: [p] (pin) [b] (bin) Pronounced with the tongue near the gums: [t] (ten) [d] (den) Pronounced with the tongue bunched up: [tʃ] (chin) [dʒ] (gin) Pronounced with the back of the tongue against the palate: [k] (coat) [ɡ] (goat)

When the consonants come at the end of a syllable, however, what distinguishes them is quite different. Voiceless phonemes are typically unaspirated, [glottalized](/source/Glottalization) 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](/source/Phonation)), and duration (discussed under [voice onset time](/source/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](/source/Ju%C7%80%CA%BChoan_language) and some of its neighboring languages are typologically unusual in having contrastive partially-voiced consonants. They have aspirate and [ejective](/source/Ejective) consonants, which are normally incompatible with voicing, in voiceless and voiced pairs.[4] The consonants start out voiced but become voiceless partway through and allow normal aspiration or ejection. They are [b͡pʰ, d͡tʰ, d͡tsʰ, d͡tʃʰ, ɡ͡kʰ] and [d͡tsʼ, d͡tʃʼ] and a similar series of clicks, [Lun Bawang](/source/Lun_Bawang_language) contrasts them with plain voiced and voicelesses like /p, b, b͡p/.[5]

## Voice and tenseness

There are languages with two sets of contrasting [obstruents](/source/Obstruent) that are labelled /p t k f s x …/ vs. /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](/source/Alemannic_German) dialects. Because voice is not involved, this is explained as a contrast in [tenseness](/source/Tenseness), called a [fortis and lenis](/source/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 [length](/source/Gemination) are only different manifestations of a common sound feature.

## See also

- [Consonant voicing and devoicing](/source/Consonant_voicing_and_devoicing)

- [Dyscravia](/source/Dyscravia)

- [List of language disorders](/source/List_of_language_disorders)

- [Manner of articulation](/source/Manner_of_articulation)

- [Phonation](/source/Phonation)

- [Place of articulation](/source/Place_of_articulation)

- [Voice onset time](/source/Voice_onset_time)

- [Voicelessness](/source/Voicelessness)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [R. M. W. Dixon](/source/R._M._W._Dixon). (1977). *A Grammar of Yidiny*. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** 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, [s̬᪽] and [z̥᪽], is encoded.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Kretzschmar (1993) *[Handbook of the Linguistic Atlas of the Middle and South Atlantic States](https://www.jstor.org/stable/415977)*, University of Chicago Press, p. 122.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Consonants that are called "voiced aspirate" normally have [breathy voice](/source/Breathy_voice), not voiceless aspiration, as in Juǀʼhoansi, [Taa](/source/Taa_language) and similar languages.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Ladefoged, Peter](/source/Peter_Ladefoged); [Maddieson, Ian](/source/Ian_Maddieson) (1996). [*The Sounds of the World's Languages*](/source/The_Sounds_of_the_World's_Languages). Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 63, 80–81. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-631-19815-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-631-19815-6).

v t e Phonation Glottal states (from open to closed) Breath Breathy Slack voice Modal voice Stiff voice Creaky voice Glottalized Ballistic (full airstream) (murmur, whispery voice) (intermediate) (maximum vibration) (intermediate) (restricted airstream) (blocked airstream) (fortis) Supra-glottal phonation Faucalized voice ("hollow") Harsh/ventricular voice ("pressed") Strident voice (epiglottal trilled) Register Whistle Falsetto Vocal fry Transitional Vibrato Passaggio Other Whisper Resonance Onset time

v t e International Phonetic Alphabet (chart) IPA topics IPA International Phonetic Association History of the alphabet Extensions for disordered speech (extIPA) Voice Quality Symbols (VoQS) Journal of the IPA (JIPA) Special topics Cursive forms Case variants Obsolete and nonstandard symbols Naming conventions Sinological extensions World Orthography IPA chart for English dialects Encodings ASCII encodings SAMPA X-SAMPA Usenet ASCII-IPA TIPA Phonetic symbols in Unicode IPA number IPA Braille Consonants Pulmonic consonants Place → Labial Coronal Dorsal Laryngeal Manner ↓ Bi­labial Labio­dental Linguo­labial Dental Alveolar Post­alveolar Retro­flex (Alve­olo-)​palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn­geal/epi­glottal Glottal Nasal m̥ m ɱ̊ ɱ n̼ n̪̊ n̪ n̥ n n̠̊ n̠ ɳ̊ ɳ ɲ̊ ɲ ŋ̊ ŋ ɴ̥ ɴ Plosive p b p̪ b̪ t̼ d̼ t̪ d̪ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ Sibilant affricate t̪s̪ d̪z̪ ts dz t̠ʃ d̠ʒ tʂ dʐ tɕ dʑ Non-sibilant affricate pɸ bβ p̪f b̪v t̪θ d̪ð tɹ̝̊ dɹ̝ t̠ɹ̠̊˔ d̠ɹ̠˔ cç ɟʝ kx ɡɣ qχ ɢʁ ʡʜ ʡʢ ʔh Sibilant fricative s̪ z̪ s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ɕ ʑ Non-sibilant fricative ɸ β f v θ̼ ð̼ θ ð θ̠ ð̠ ɹ̠̊˔ ɹ̠˔ ɻ̊˔ ɻ˔ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h ɦ Approximant β̞ ʋ ð̞ ɹ ɹ̠ ɻ j ɰ ˷ Tap/flap ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ̥ ɾ ɽ̊ ɽ ɢ̆ ʡ̮ Trill ʙ̥ ʙ r̥ r r̠ ɽ̊r̥ ɽr ʀ̥ ʀ ʜ ʢ Lateral affricate tɬ dɮ tꞎ d𝼅 c𝼆 ɟʎ̝ k𝼄 ɡʟ̝ Lateral fricative ɬ̪ ɬ ɮ ꞎ 𝼅 𝼆 ʎ̝ 𝼄 ʟ̝ Lateral approximant l̪ l̥ l l̠ ɭ̊ ɭ ʎ̥ ʎ ʟ̥ ʟ ʟ̠ Lateral tap/flap ɺ̥ ɺ 𝼈̊ 𝼈 ʎ̮ ʟ̆ IPA help audio full chart template Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless. Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible. Non-pulmonic consonants BL LD D A PA RF P V U Implosive Voiced ɓ ɗ ᶑ ʄ ɠ ʛ Voiceless ɓ̥ ɗ̥ ᶑ̊ ʄ̊ ɠ̊ ʛ̥ Ejective Stop pʼ tʼ ʈʼ cʼ kʼ qʼ Affricate p̪fʼ t̪θʼ tsʼ t̠ʃʼ tʂʼ tɕʼ kxʼ qχʼ Fricative ɸʼ fʼ θʼ sʼ ʃʼ ʂʼ ɕʼ xʼ χʼ Lateral affricate tɬʼ c𝼆ʼ k𝼄ʼ q𝼄ʼ Lateral fricative ɬʼ Click (top: velar; bottom: uvular) Tenuis kʘ qʘ kǀ qǀ kǃ qǃ k𝼊 q𝼊 kǂ qǂ Voiced ɡʘ ɢʘ ɡǀ ɢǀ ɡǃ ɢǃ ɡ𝼊 ɢ𝼊 ɡǂ ɢǂ Nasal ŋʘ ɴʘ ŋǀ ɴǀ ŋǃ ɴǃ ŋ𝼊 ɴ𝼊 ŋǂ ɴǂ ʞ Tenuis lateral kǁ qǁ Voiced lateral ɡǁ ɢǁ Nasal lateral ŋǁ ɴǁ IPA help audio full chart template Co-articulated consonants Nasal n͡m Labial–alveolar ɳ͡m Labial–retroflex ŋ͡m Labial–velar Plosive t͡p d͡b Labial–alveolar ʈ͡p ɖ͡b Labial–retroflex k͡p ɡ͡b Labial–velar q͡ʡ Uvular–epiglottal q͡p Labial–uvular Fricative/approximant ɥ̊ ɥ Labialized palatal ʍ w Labialized velar ɧ Sj-sound (variable) Lateral approximant ɫ Velarized alveolar Implosive ɠ̊͜ɓ̥ ɠ͡ɓ Labial–velar Ejective t͡pʼ Labial–alveolar IPA help full chart template Other Voiceless bidental fricative [h̪͆] Voiceless bilabially post-trilled dental stop [t̪ʙ̥] Voiceless upper-pharyngeal plosive [ʡ̟] Voiced upper-pharyngeal plosive [ʡ̟̬] Bilabial percussive [ʬ] Bidental percussive [ʭ] Sublaminal lower-alveolar percussive [¡] Vowels Front Central Back Close i y ɨ ʉ ɯ u Near-close ɪ ʏ ʊ Close-mid e ø ɘ ɵ ɤ o Mid e̞ ø̞ ə ɤ̞ o̞ Open-mid ɛ œ ɜ ɞ ʌ ɔ Near-open æ ɐ Open a ɶ ä ɑ ɒ IPA help audio full chart template Legend: unrounded • rounded

v t e Articulation Articulatory phonetics – Co-articulation – International Phonetic Alphabet Place Labial Bilabial Labiodental Dentolabial Coronal Linguolabial Interdental Dental Denti-alveolar Alveolar Postalveolar Retroflex Active place Apical Laminal Subapical Dorsal Alveolo-palatal Palatal Velar Uvular Laryngeal Pharyngeal/epiglottal Glottal Double articulation Labial–coronal Labial–alveolar Labial–retroflex Labial–palatal Labial–velar Labial–uvular Coronal–velar Uvular–epiglottal Pathological Velopharyngeal Other Bidental Manner Obstruent Plosive Pre-plosion Lateral release Nasal release Unreleased Affricate Trilled Fricative Sibilant Sonorant Nasal Prenasal Vowel Nasal Strident Approximant Semivowel Vibrant Tap/flap Trill Liquid Rhotic Lateral Occlusive Continuant Nonexplosive Airstream Egressive Pulmonic Ingressive Glottalic Ejective Implosive Click Pulmonic Ejective Nasal Glottalized Percussive Secondary articulation Labialization Roundedness Palatalization Labio-palatalization Velarization Uvularization Pharyngealization Related Nasalization Sulcalization Phonation (Voice) Glottal Voiceless Tenuis Whispery Aspirated Preaspirated Breathy Slack Modal Stiff Creaky Glottalized Supra-glottal Faucal Harsh Register Whistle Falsetto Vocal fry Transitional Vibrato Passaggio Resonance Onset time

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