Deformation of the hypopharyngeal cavities due to F0 changes and its acoustic effects

Abstract

International audienceOur observation from a male speaker showed that rise and fall of F0 in vowel production involves geometrical changes of the hypopharyngeal cavities and alters their resonance pattern. In high F0, the upper part of the laryngeal cavity widens to increase the frequency of the fourth formant, and the piriform fossa elongates to decrease its zero frequency. On the contrary, in low F0, the upper part of the laryngeal cavity is constricted to decrease the frequency of the fourth formant, and the piriform fossa shortens to increase its dip frequency. As a result, the pole and zeros generated by the hypopharyngeal cavities approximate each other in high F0, while they dissociate in low F0