Whispering is an unvoiced mode of

phonation The term phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, ''phonation'' is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the defi ...

in which the

vocal cords In humans, the vocal cords, also known as vocal folds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through Speech, vocalization. The length of the vocal cords affects the pitch of voice, similar to a violin string. Open when brea ...

are abducted so that they do not vibrate; air passes between the arytenoid cartilages to create audible turbulence during speech. Supralaryngeal articulation remains the same as in normal speech. In normal speech, the vocal cords alternate between states of voice and voicelessness. In whispering, only the voicing segments change, so that the vocal cords alternate between whisper and voicelessness (though the acoustic difference between the two states is minimal). Because of this, implementing

speech recognition Speech recognition is an interdisciplinary subfield of computer science and computational linguistics that develops methodologies and technologies that enable the recognition and translation of spoken language into text by computers. It is also ...

for whispered speech is more difficult, as the characteristic spectral range needed to detect

syllables A syllable is a basic unit of organization within a sequence of speech sounds, such as within a word, typically defined by linguists as a ''nucleus'' (most often a vowel) with optional sounds before or after that nucleus (''margins'', which are ...

and words is not given through the total absence of tone. More advanced techniques such as

neural networks A neural network is a group of interconnected units called neurons that send signals to one another. Neurons can be either Cell (biology), biological cells or signal pathways. While individual neurons are simple, many of them together in a netwo ...

may be used, however, as is done by Amazon Alexa. There is no symbol in the IPA for whispered phonation, since it is not used phonemically in any language. However, a sub-dot under phonemically voiced segments is sometimes seen in the literature, as for whispered ''should.''

Social role

Whispering is generally used quietly, to limit the hearing of speech to those closest to the speaker; for example, to convey secret information without being overheard or to avoid disturbing others in a quiet place such as a library or place of worship. Loud whispering, known as a stage whisper, is generally used only for dramatic or emphatic purposes. Whispering can strain the vocal cords more than regular speech in some people, for whom speaking softly is recommended instead.

ASMR

In 2010, it was discovered that whispering is one of the many triggers of ASMR, a tingling sensation caused by listening to soft, relaxing sounds. This phenomenon made news headlines after videos on

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of people speaking up close to the camera in a soft whisper, giving the viewer tingles. People often listen to these videos to help them sleep and to relax.

In non-humans

The prevalence and function of low-amplitude signaling by non-humans are poorly characterized. As such, it is difficult to ascertain the existence of whispering in non-humans. This is made more difficult by the specific physiology of human whispering. By sufficiently relaxing the definition of whispering, it can be argued any number of non-human species demonstrate whisper-like behaviors. Often these behaviors function to increase fitness. If whispering is more broadly defined as the "production of short-range, low-amplitude acoustic signals," whispering is observed in myriad animals including non-human mammals, fish, and insects. If whispering is restricted to include only acoustic signals which are significantly different than those produced at high amplitude, whispering is still observed across biological taxa. An unlikely example is the croaking gourami. Croaking gouramis produce a high-amplitude "croak" during agonistic disputes by beating specialized pectoral fins. Female gouramis additionally use these fins to produce an acoustically distinct, low-amplitude "purr" during copulation. If whispering is restricted to include only creatures possessing vocal folds (i.e., mammals and some reptiles), whispering has been observed in species including cotton-top tamarins and a variety of bats. In captive cotton-top tamarins, whisper-like behavior is speculated to enable troop communication while not alerting predators. Numerous species of bats (e.g., spotted bats, northern long-eared bats, and western barbastelles) alter their echolocation calls to avoid detection by prey. Such a relaxed definition of whispering (i.e., production of short-range, low-amplitude acoustic signals which are significantly different than those produced at high amplitude) cannot be applied to humans without including vocalizations distinct from human whispering (e.g., creaky voice, and

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

). Further research is needed to ascertain the existence of whispering in non-humans as established in the larger article.

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