Adjective

vocal (comparative more vocal, superlative most vocal)

Positive vocal

Comparative more vocal

Superlative most vocal

1. Of or pertaining to the voice or speech; having voice; endowed with utterance; full of voice, or voices
   • (A date for this quote is being sought): Milton,

     To hill or valley, fountain, or fresh shade, / Made vocal by my song.

2. Uttered or modulated by the voice; oral; as, vocal melody; vocal prayer, vocal worship.
3. Of or pertaining to a vowel or voice sound; also, spoken with tone, intonation, and resonance; sonant; sonorous; -- said of certain articulate sounds
4. (phonetics) Consisting of, or characterized by, voice, or tone produced in the larynx, which may be modified, either by resonance, as in the case of the vowels, or by obstructive action, as in certain consonants, such as v, l, etc., or by both, as in the nasals m, n, ng; sonant; intonated; voiced. See voice, and vowel
5. (phonetics) Of or pertaining to a vowel; having the character of a vowel; vowel

Derived terms

• vocal chords
• Vocal fremitus, (from Latin fremitus a dull roaring or murmuring), (Medicine): the perceptible vibration of the chest wall, produced by the transmission of the sonorous vibrations during the act of using the voice
• Vocal music: music made by the voice, in distinction from instrumental music; hence, music or tunes set to words, to be performed by the human voice
• vocal sac
• vocal tube

The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds (vocal cords) are the primary sound source. Generally speaking, the mechanism for generating the human voice can be subdivided into three parts; the lungs, the vocal folds within the larynx, and the articulators. The lung (the pump) must produce adequate airflow and air pressure to vibrate vocal folds (this air pressure is the fuel of the voice). The vocal folds (vocal cords) are a vibrating valve that chops up the airflow from the lungs into audible pulses that form the laryngeal sound source. The muscles of the larynx adjust the length and tension of the vocal folds to ‘fine tune’ pitch and tone. The articulators (the parts of the vocal tract above the larynx consisting of tongue, palate, cheek, lips, etc.) articulate and filter the sound emanating from the larynx and to some degree can interact with the laryngeal airflow to strengthen it or weaken it as a sound source.

The vocal folds, in combination with the articulators, are capable of producing highly intricate arrays of sound. The tone of voice may be modulated to suggest emotions such as anger, surprise, or happiness. Singers use the human voice as an instrument for creating music.