Abstract
The present study was carried out to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of tracheoesophageal (TE) phonation. Five excellent TE speakers served as the subjects. The subpseudoglottal pressure, mean flow rate and audio waveform were recorded simultaneously during steady phonation. The results were as follows; 1) The subpseudoglottal pressure and mean flow rate were positively related in two of the subjects, negatively related in one subject and not linearly related to each other in the final two subjects. 2) There was a pressure gradient recorded between the points above and below the narrowing which existed prior to the pseudoglottis in two of the subjects. 3) Fundamental frequency and subpseudoglottal pressure showed positive linear correlation in all of the subjects only when the pressure was measured just below the pseudoglottis. The variability of the relationship between subpseudoglottal pressure and air flow rate is supposed to be the result of the complex configuration and volume expansion of the subpseudoglottal cavity as well as the possibility of pseudoglottal manipulation by the subjects. The pressure measured just below the pseudoglottis seems to be acceptable value for the driving pressure of the pseudoglottal vibration.
