Original Research
Pitch in esophageal speech
South African Journal of Communication Disorders | Journal of the South African Speech and Hearing Association: Vol 22, No 1 | a393 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajcd.v22i1.393
| © 2019 L. W. Lanham
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 15 November 2016 | Published: 31 December 1975
Submitted: 15 November 2016 | Published: 31 December 1975
About the author(s)
L. W. Lanham, Department of Phonetics and General Linguistics, University of the Witwatersrand, South AfricaW. A. Kerr, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Johannesburg Hospital, South Africa
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Most reports on pitch in esophageal speech emphasize that it is low-pitched with a measured fundamental frequency rarely higher than 100 cps. Our investigations show, however, that much esophageal 'phonation' lacks periodicity and, therefore, a fundamental frequency (i.e. pitch in the accepted sense). An auditory impression of pitch modulation can, nevertheless, be created by physical properties other than a varying harmonic structure. Our sample includes a rare case of truly high-pitched esophageal phonation with a fundamental frequency in the upper limit of the voice an octave higher than the highest reported in the literature. High-pitched phonation apparently requires a vibratory source in a 'mode' different from that of low-pitched phonation and should therefore be distinguished from it in discussing pitch in esophageal voice.
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