Editing Vowel (section)

=== Phonation ===
{{Main|Phonation}}
[[Phonation|Voicing]] describes whether the [[vocal cords]] are vibrating during the articulation of a vowel. Most languages have only voiced vowels, but several [[Native American languages]], such as [[Cheyenne language|Cheyenne]] and [[Totonac language|Totonac]], have both voiced and devoiced vowels in complementary distribution. Vowels are devoiced in whispered speech. In Japanese and in [[Quebec French]], vowels that are between voiceless consonants are often devoiced. [[Keres language|Keres]] is disputed to have phonemic voiceless vowels but no language is confirmed to have them phonemically.

[[Modal voice]], [[creaky voice]], and [[breathy voice]] (murmured vowels) are [[phonation]] types that are used contrastively in some languages. Often, they co-occur with [[tone (linguistics)|tone]] or stress distinctions; in the [[Mon language]], vowels pronounced in the high tone are also produced with creaky voice. In such cases, it can be unclear whether it is the tone, the voicing type, or the pairing of the two that is being used for [[phonemic contrast]]. The combination of phonetic cues (phonation, tone, stress) is known as ''register'' or ''register complex''.