What makes vowels different? I know that depending on the position of tongue and the mouth shape the different vowels can be produced. But what makes vowels different in terms of sound waves?
Asked
Active
Viewed 64 times
0
-
I don't know how the answer to your question, but perhaps these links are interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_voice , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonation . – Ertxiem - reinstate Monica Dec 30 '19 at 03:25
-
2The question seems legit to me. – QuantumBrick Dec 30 '19 at 04:21
-
Does this answer your question? Why do different letters sound different? Clearly in the realm of physics - Helmholtz was a physicist. – Dec 30 '19 at 08:31
1 Answers
1
Short answer: Different harmonic content. Same answer as to the question of why one musical instrument sounds different from another.
Your mouth and throat act as a complicated resonant cavity, and changing the shape of it changes which harmonics in your voice are enhanced and which are diminished.
Solomon Slow
- 14,534
-
Yes, this leads to formants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formant One can measure these with spectrogram apps on a mobile phone. – Dec 30 '19 at 08:29