Fully voiced plosives

In fully voiced plosives, modal vocal fold vibration continues through all phases of the plosive.

Make a fully voiced plosive by producing a vowel, e.g. [ɑ], and then make a closure at the lips while continuing to say the vowel. This results in a closure with a low-pitched (and quiet) buzzing sound. For the vocal folds to vibrate, there needs to be a difference in pressure above and below the glottis. With a complete oral closure, eventually the pressure above and below the glottis equalizes, because the air above the glottis has no means of escape. Therefore the duration of a fully voiced closure is constrained by how long a pressure difference across the glottis can be maintained. If the closure is released as soon as the voicing stops, a fully voiced plosive is produced. Fully voiced plosives commonly occur between two voiced sounds, as in ‘hobby’, ‘under’, ‘hunger’, and in some (but by no means all) varieties they are normal productions of [b d g].