What is the epiglottis and why is it important?
Picture by Mayo Foundation https://www.mayoclinic.org/
Not to be confused with the glottis (the opening between the vocal folds), the epiglottis gets it’s name from its location. ‘Epi’ meaning above and ‘glottis’ meaning, well, glottis. Therefore, our little leaf-shaped friend is located at the top of the larynx, above the glottis and vocal folds and is one of the 9 cartilaginous structures that make up the larynx with the stem attached to the internal surface of the thyroid cartilage.
What is it made of?
The epiglottis a leaf shaped flap of elastic cartilage covered mucous membrane and few taste buds for good measure.
Picture by Pearson Education Inc https://www.pearson.co.uk/
What Happens when we swallow Food?
Swallowing requires over 20 muscles of the mouth, throat, and esophagus. It consists of three phases.
1. The voluntary part of swallowing. The food is moistened with saliva and chewed up and the tongue pushes it to the back of the throat, the pharynx.
2. The swallow reflex. The tongue blocks the oral cavity so that food does not come back up into the mouth, the soft palate blocks entry to the nasal cavity, the vocal folds close and the larynx rises with the epiglottis flipping over the entrance to the larynx protecting the airway to the lungs. This action is very important as food entering the lungs can be life-threatening.
3. The food is propelled down the esophagus by a wave of muscular contractions and the larynx returns to its initial position.
Does it effect our sound?
Generally no. However, in some languages like Danish, the epiglottis is used to produce an epiglottal consonant, though it is a rare sound in language.
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Resources
NHS: https://www.nhs.uk/
