Word: vowels
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There are two theories of how vowel sounds are made: 1) that the vocal cords vibrate, like rubbed violin strings; 2) that, like blowing a whistle or across a bottle mouth, puffs of air from the vocal cords excite resonances in the head cavities (pharynx, mouth, nose, sinuses). To confirm one or the other theory, Lee Edward Travis of University of Iowa's Psychopathic Hospital and Archibald R. Buchanan of the Department of Anatomy, cut the heads from a couple of dead men, suspended the heads by wires from a ceiling and up through the severed necks blew puffs...
...word of two syllables. For Harvard men to endeavor an imitation of the Yale machine-gun chatter would be simply ridiculous. And so, very wisely, they aim at the dignified and sonorous effect: "Harvard! Harvard!! Harvard!!!" Here the accent is on the first syllable with a fine, open vowel sound; the result is vocally excellent...
...Princeton we are under a double handicap--a dissyllabic name and a thin, closed vowel (i) with which to start. Consequently, we cannot rival either the quick bark of "Yale!" or the slow sonority of "Harvard!" From the standpoint of effective vocalization "Prince-ton!" is what our British cousins would call a fair washout. What to do about...
...secured by avoiding the repetition of the word (Nassau), particularly if the tempo be a rapid one. Use a single "Nassau" at the end of the cheer, thus: "Nassau!" Note that the explosive accent is on the final syllable, the vocalization fairly well drawn out, and a very open vowel sound given to the second half of the word. Compare the concluding line of our college hymn: "Three cheers for Old Nassau." --Daily Princetonian...
Those people are dumb, for they lack vocal.cords. The vocal cords are two short bands of muscles that cross the larynx. In breathing air passes between the cords. To make sounds, the cords assume varying tensions; the passing air makes them vibrate; vowel sounds result: the palate acts as a sounding board, the mouth as a resonance chamber. In talking the palate, tongue, teeth and lips modify vocal sounds into speech...