Phonation Types in Javanese

The somewhat misnamed breathy voiced vowels of Javanese have been retermed "slack voiced" by Ladefoged and Maddieson (1996). This paper extends the analysis of Javanese vowels to a wider range of vowels, describes in precise detail what the acoustic characteristics of Javanese slack voice are, and examines the acoustic characteristics of the "emphatic" voice quality often used in Javanese—the acoustic qualities of which are usually associated with what is more typically called breathy voice. I find that it is necessary to extend the range of voice qualities found in Javanese from stiff and slack to include the distinct breathy voice used for emphasis.