Laryngealized

Laryngealized is a term used in linguistics to describe sounds that incorporate a laryngeal articulation or phonation beyond the primary place and manner of articulation. It commonly refers to a secondary laryngeal attribute that affects voice quality, producing a creaky or constricted voice. In languages with laryngealized vowels, vowels are produced with creaky voice, giving a rough, low-pitched quality; in some languages this contrast is phonemic, distinguishing vowels independently of length or tone.

Laryngealization can also apply to consonants when the larynx is involved during their articulation, yielding a creaky or similar quality on the consonant and/or the adjacent vowel within a syllable. This is sometimes described as glottalization or, in some traditions, pharyngealization depending on the precise articulatory mechanism.

Acoustic cues commonly associated with laryngealization include a lower fundamental frequency, irregular glottal pulses, and reduced or uneven voicing. Transcriptions often mark the affected segment with a diacritic under vowels to indicate creaky voice, or label the consonant as laryngealized or creaky-voiced. In some linguistic traditions, emphatic consonants in Semitic languages are described as laryngealized or pharyngealized because they influence adjacent vowels.

Laryngealized phonation is language-specific; many languages do not contrast laryngealized with modal phonation, but a number of languages in the Caucasus, Southeast Asia, the Americas, and Africa are reported to have laryngealized vowels or consonants as part of their phonemic inventories. It is distinct from medical laryngeal conditions and from casual creaky sounding in ordinary speech.