Voice Quality Symbols (VoQS) are a set of phonetic symbols used for voice quality, such as to transcribe disordered speech.
VoQS symbols are normally combined with curly braces that span a section of speech, just as with prosody notation in the extended IPA. The symbols may be modified with a digit to convey relative degree of the quality. For example, ⟨V!⟩ is used for harsh voice, and {3V! ... 3V!} indicates that the intervening speech is very harsh. ⟨L̞⟩ indicates a lowered larynx. Thus, {L̞1V! ... 1V!L̞} indicates that the intervening speech is less harsh with a lowered larynx.
VoQS use mostly IPA or extended IPA diacritics on capital letters for the element being modified: V for 'voice', L for 'larynx', and J for 'jaw'. Degree is marked 1 for slight, 2 for moderate, and 3 for extreme.
Symbols
The following combinations of letters and diacritics are used. They indicate an airstream mechanism, phonation or secondary articulation across a stretch of speech. For example, 'palatalized voice' indicates palatalization of the segment of speech spanned by the braces.
The four primary phonation types, other than breathed (voiceless), receive a distinct letter:
{V} modal voice {F} falsetto {W} whisper (typically only the normally modal-voice segments are whispery, while the voiceless segments remain voiceless) {C} creakModifications are made with diacritics. The terms "whispery voice/murmur" and "breathy voice" follow Catford (1977) and differ from the use of "murmur/breathy voice" by the IPA. The notation {Ṿ} and {V̤} are therefore often confused, and {V̤} should perhaps be used for whispery voice with e.g. {Vʱ} for breathy voice.
{Ṿ} whispery voice (murmur; the breathy voice of the IPA) {V̰} creaky voice {V̤} breathy voice {C̣} whispery creak {V͉} slack/lax voice {V!} harsh voice (without ventricular vibration; this may differ from the use of the word "harsh" cross-linguistically, which may be the same as "ventricular", next) {V‼} ventricular phonation {V̬‼} diplophonia (simultaneous ventricular and glottal vibration; see also vocal-fold cyst) {Ṿ‼} whispery ventricular phonation {VꜲ} aryepiglottic phonation {V͈} pressed phonation/tight voice (made by pressing together the arytenoid cartilages so that only the anterior ligamental vocal folds vibrate; the opposite of whisper, where the vibration is posterior) {W͈} tight whisper {ꟿ} spasmodic dysphonia {И} electrolaryngeal phonation (approximates symbol for electricity)Other combinations are possible, such as {Ṿ̃} for nasal whispery voice or {WF̰} for whispery creaky falsetto. If the number of diacritics on a letter becomes excessive, the notation may be broken up. For example, {Ṿ̰̃ˠ} may be replaced with {VˠṼṾV̰}.