Laryngeal gestures during stop production using high-speed digital images.

On acoustic and fiberscopic studies of stop consonants, voice onset time and glottal width have been shown to be greatest in heavily aspirated stops, next greater for slightly aspirated stops, and least for unaspirated stops. Integrated activity of the thyroarytenoid and posterior cricoarytenoid muscles has been reported to be involved in differentiating aspirate characteristics of the stops. However, the fine movement of mucosal edges of vocal folds during the production of stops has not been well documented. In recent years, a new method for high-speed digital recording of laryngeal dynamics has made this possible. In the current study, the movements of vocal fold edges were documented during the period of stop production using a fiberscopic system of high-speed digital images. By observing the glottal width and the visual vibratory movements of vocal folds before voice onset, the heavily aspirated stop was characterized as being more prominent and dynamic than the slightly aspirated and unaspirated stops.