The vocal tract is the cavity in human beings and in animals where sound that is produced at the sound source (larynx in mammals; syrinx in birds) is filtered.
In birds it consists of the trachea, the syrinx, the oral cavity, the upper part of the esophagus, and the beak. In mammals it consists of the laryngeal cavity, the pharynx, the oral cavity, and the nasal cavity.
The estimated average length of the vocal tract in adult male humans is 16.9 cm and 14.1 cm in adult females.
Famous quotes containing the words vocal and/or tract:
“The sound of tireless voices is the price we pay for the right to hear the music of our own opinions. But there is also, it seems to me, a moment at which democracy must prove its capacity to act. Every man has a right to be heard; but no man has the right to strangle democracy with a single set of vocal chords.”
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965)
“If a theme or idea is too near the surface, the novel becomes simply a tract illustrating an idea.”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)