What does phonation mean?
Phonation is the production of vocal sound, especially the generation of voiced sound when the vocal folds vibrate. It is an important concept in phonetics, speech science, voice training, and the diagnosis and treatment of voice disorders. A speaker’s phonation can vary in loudness, pitch, stability, and vocal quality, and different techniques may produce modal, whispered, pressed, or other distinctive modes of sound. The term is more technical than simply saying that someone is speaking or making a sound: it focuses on the physical vocal-fold process underlying voiced speech. Phonation is distinct from articulation, which refers to how the lips, tongue, jaw, and other speech organs shape the sounds produced.
nounThe production of vocal sound, especially the process of generating voiced sound through vibration of the vocal folds. In speech science, it may also refer to the particular quality or mode of vocal sound production.
- The act or process of producing vocal sound, particularly voiced sound through vibration of the vocal folds.
- A particular mode or quality of vocal sound production, such as modal, pressed, or pharyngeal phonation.
"The singer demonstrated controlled phonation by gradually increasing the volume of her sustained notes."
"Speech therapy exercises can help a patient improve phonation and vocal control."
"The recording was marked by uneven phonation, making some words difficult to hear."
The plural is uncommon in ordinary language but is used in technical descriptions of different vocal sound-production modes.
"The study compares different phonations used by trained singers."
Without phonation, the vocal folds remain still and speech becomes voiceless; it is the physical vibration that gives spoken language its voice.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does phonation come from?
Phonation comes from Greek phōnē, meaning “voice” or “sound,” combined with the suffix -ation, which forms a noun of action or process. The Greek root is also reflected in English words such as phone, phoneme, phonetic, and phonology, all of which concern sound or language. The word entered English in the nineteenth century as a specialized term associated with the study of vocal sound.
Related word forms
How phonation is actually used
Phonation is a technical term used mainly in speech science, phonetics, voice training, and medicine. It is more specific than general speech or voice production and focuses on how vocal sound is generated.
Easily confused with phonation
Phonation concerns the production of sound, especially voicing, whereas articulation concerns the movement and shaping of speech sounds by the lips, tongue, jaw, and other articulators.