How does your voicebox work?

Just how do human beings create the sound of speech – and how come we can do it and other animals can’t? BritLab investigates.

The voicebox – or larynx, as it’s technically known – is the reason we’re able to speak. It’s a small hollow tube which sits at the top of our windpipe, anchored to the bone that’s connected to our tongue.

The voicebox is made of cartilage – just like the pliant tip of your nose, or the flexible material in your kneecaps – and contains small bands of tissue that can expand and contract. That tissue pulls together, and the air rushing through it causes the bands to vibrate. When that happens you get sound.

But our voices don’t just rely on our voicebox to form the words we choose. There’s complicated interplay between our vocal cords and our oral and nasal cavities that helps modify the sound made by all that rushing air.

Most animals don’t share the same kind of equipment to make these kind of sounds – though there are exceptions. Watch the video above to find out more (or view it on YouTube). You’ll gain new respect for one of the giants of the animal kingdom.

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