Ear, nose and throat

Consultants

Normal vocal folds

Healthy vocal folds produce a harmonic vocal cycle.

If we breathe with our mouth open, deeply inhaling and exhaling air, only a slight, breathy sound is produced. But if we then deeply inhale and close our vocal cords then exhale, we get a voiced sound, which is exactly what happens when we say the letter “a”.

To pronounce “a”, as with any other vowel, what happens is that the vocal folds close together, and as air flows through them they vibrate. Repeatedly opening and closing, or oscillating, the vocal folds creates a wave of alternating pressure (air flows though the open vocal folds and the airflow is blocked when they close).