Vocal Cords or Vocal Folds?

THE VOCAL FOLDS

The phonation component of the voice system is comprised of the vocal folds, made up of muscle, ligament, and mucosa, and of the larynx (pronounced LAIR-INX, not LAIR-NIX), a housing structure surrounding the vocal folds made of cartilage and muscle.

Vocal Folds or Vocal Cords?

The vocal folds, often referred to as vocal cords, sometimes incorrectly spelled as vocal chords, are the small vibrating element housed within the larynx, located directly behind the thyroid cartilage, otherwise known as a man’s Adams Apple. The vocal folds stretch horizontally across the larynx from front to back, attached to the thyroid cartilage in front and the arytenoid cartilages at the back.  When we inhale, they open in a V-shape with the wide part of the V at the back.

The vocal folds were originally called vocal cords because it was thought that they vibrated much like strings on a violin. This has been shown to be untrue. The term cords is inaccurate; the vocal folds are not plucked like a string to create sound. Instead, they fold up and down, opening and closing from bottom to top; thus the term folds is more precise.

THE VOCAL FOLDS AND NERVOUS SYSTEM

To innervate is to supply or stimulate. In the human body, nerves originate in the brain and branch out to the spinal cord, connecting to the muscles of the body. Signals from the nerves activate and control our muscles, and also give us feedback. This two-way process is called innervation. 

Two nerves innervate the larynx: the recurrent laryngeal nerve and the superior laryngeal nerve, both branching out of the vagus nerve. The recurrent laryngeal nerve wraps around the aorta, the main artery leading out of the heart, and then comes back up and attaches to the larynx.

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