Tongue and Jaw Movement Patterns in Heavy Metal Growling: An EMA Case Study
Författare
Summary, in English
Research into voice qualities that employ supraglottal structures has enlightened our knowledge on the relationship between the laryngeal and the oral articulators. One such insight, which is described within the laryngeal articulator model, is the relationship between the tongue and jaw, and laryngeal constriction. There is evidence to suggest that the tongue dorsum is actively involved in laryngeal constriction by narrowing the vocal tract through retraction. Additionally, it has been observed that laryngeal constriction is correlated with a more open jaw. The current thesis sought to deepen our insights into the relationship between the laryngeal and oral articulator by investigating tongue and jaw movements in modal voice versus heavy metal growling.
Growling in heavy metal necessarily involves supraglottic structures such as the aryepiglottic and ventricular folds. To use these structures, laryngeal constriction must be present. We thus hypothesised that growling would exhibit more tongue retraction and jaw-lowering compared to modal voice. To investigate whether this was true, we employed electromagnetic articulography to track the tongue and jaw movements of two participants. The participants only spoke English as an L2, and only ever growled in their L2. We collected data from their L1s as well (Italian and Greek) but conducted statistical tests on their L2s only. Both participants demonstrated two types of growls.
The results revealed that growl always has a more lowered (p < 0,05) and backed (p < 0.001) tongue dorsum, as well as a lower (p < 0.001) and backed (p < 0.001) jaw. We can thus summarise that our statistical tests agreed with our hypotheses. However, through visualisation of the data, we found one outlier in one participant’s L1 (Italian) in which the tongue dorsum was less backed in one of the growls compared to modal voice. Additionally, the visualisation of the data might suggest that there indeed are two types of growls, which is a new finding. The results thus generally agree with the predictions we had based on concepts within the laryngeal articulator model but also generated several potential points of research for the future.
Growling in heavy metal necessarily involves supraglottic structures such as the aryepiglottic and ventricular folds. To use these structures, laryngeal constriction must be present. We thus hypothesised that growling would exhibit more tongue retraction and jaw-lowering compared to modal voice. To investigate whether this was true, we employed electromagnetic articulography to track the tongue and jaw movements of two participants. The participants only spoke English as an L2, and only ever growled in their L2. We collected data from their L1s as well (Italian and Greek) but conducted statistical tests on their L2s only. Both participants demonstrated two types of growls.
The results revealed that growl always has a more lowered (p < 0,05) and backed (p < 0.001) tongue dorsum, as well as a lower (p < 0.001) and backed (p < 0.001) jaw. We can thus summarise that our statistical tests agreed with our hypotheses. However, through visualisation of the data, we found one outlier in one participant’s L1 (Italian) in which the tongue dorsum was less backed in one of the growls compared to modal voice. Additionally, the visualisation of the data might suggest that there indeed are two types of growls, which is a new finding. The results thus generally agree with the predictions we had based on concepts within the laryngeal articulator model but also generated several potential points of research for the future.
Avdelning/ar
- Avdelningen för engelska
- Master's Programme: Language and Linguistics
- Fonetik
Publiceringsår
2025
Språk
Engelska
Fulltext
Dokumenttyp
Examensarbete för masterexamen (Två år)
Ämne
- Languages and Literatures
Nyckelord
- Voice Quality
- Growl
- Laryngeal Articulator Model
- Laryngeal Constriction
- Tongue
- Jaw
- Metal Music
- Extreme Voice Qualities
- Nonmodal Voice Qualities
Handledare
- Mechtild Tronnier
- Malin Svensson Lundmark