| Phonation |
|---|
| Glottal states |
| From open to closed: |
| Voicelessness (full airstream) |
| Breathy voice (murmur) |
| Slack voice |
| Modal voice (maximum vibration) |
| Stiff voice |
| Creaky voice (restricted airstream) |
| Glottalized (blocked airstream) |
| Supra-glottal phonation |
| Faucalized voice ("hollow") |
| Harsh voice ("pressed") |
| Strident (harsh trilled) |
| Non-phonemic phonation |
| Whisper |
| Falsetto |
"Ballistic" syllables are a phonemic distinction in the Otomanguean languages Chinantec and Amuzgo. They have been described as characterized either with either increased sub-glottal pressure (Mugele 1982) or with laryngeal abduction (Silverman 1994). The acoustic effect is a fortis release of the consonant, a gradual surge in the intensity of the vowel, followed by a rapid decay in intensity into post-vocalic aspiration. They may thus be a form of phonation.
Non-ballistic syllables are by contrast called "controlled".