Vocal folds

The vocal folds (or vocal cords) are two muscular folds running from the Adam's apple (the front of the thyroid cartilage) backwards to the front ends of the arytenoid cartilages. Their tension and elasticity can be varied; they can be made thicker or thinner, shorter or longer; they can be opened wide, closed together, and they can be elevated or depressed in their vertical relationship to the cavities above. The vocal folds can move rapidly due to the passing of air, producing voiced sounds. The number of times the vocal folds open and close per second is the frequency of vocal fold vibration (the fundamental frequency F0).

Links

 * Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics
 * Vocal Fold Motion Impairment
 * Sequence of Vocal Fold Motion