As a linguistic expert, I'm delighted to delve into the intricacies of phonetics, which is the study of the sounds of human speech. The question of whether vowels can be voiced or voiceless is an interesting one, as it touches upon the fundamental aspects of speech production.

Vowels, by definition, are speech sounds produced with an open vocal tract, allowing the air to flow freely without any significant constriction. They are typically characterized by the absence of noise, which is a key feature of voiced sounds. This is because the vocal cords vibrate during the production of voiced sounds, creating a periodic waveform that is perceived as 'voiced'.

However, the concept of voicelessness in vowels is not as straightforward. In normal speech, vowels are almost always voiced because the vocal cords are engaged in vibration when the mouth is open enough to produce a vowel sound. This is due to the fact that the vocal cords are positioned in such a way that they naturally vibrate when air passes through them during exhalation, which is a typical condition for vowel production.

The reference to whispering introduces a special case. When we whisper, we produce speech sounds without vocal cord vibration. This results in a voiceless sound. If you were to whisper a vowel like [a], you would indeed be producing a voiceless vowel. The whispering technique bypasses the usual voicing mechanism by not engaging the vocal cords, thus creating a voiceless version of what would normally be a voiced sound.

It's important to note, though, that whispering is not typical of everyday speech. In most spoken languages, vowels are voiced because they are produced with the vocal cords vibrating. The voiceless whispering of vowels is more of an exception than a rule in the realm of speech sounds.

Moreover, the voiced nature of vowels is also supported by the concept of 'vowel formants'. Vowel formants are specific frequency bands in the spectrum of a vowel sound that are determined by the shape of the vocal tract. They are modifications of a voiced airstream from the larynx, which means that they inherently involve voiced sounds. The formants help to distinguish one vowel from another, and since they are based on voiced airflow, this further underscores the voiced nature of vowels.

In summary, while it is technically possible to produce voiceless vowels through whispering, the vast majority of vowel sounds in speech are voiced. This is due to the natural engagement of the vocal cords during vowel production and the inherent voiced characteristics of vowel formants. The voiced nature of vowels is a fundamental aspect of human speech, and the voiceless whispering of vowels represents a specialized and less common form of speech sound production.

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After all, all vowels and all consonants that are whispered are ipso facto voiceless. Whisper [a] and you have pronounced a voiceless vowel. However, the overwhelming majority of vowel sounds in speech are voiced, since vowel formants are modifications of a voiced airstream from the larynx.Aug 10, 2014read more >>