Ligament · Neck

Vocal ligament

Ligamentum vocale

The elastic cord forming the sharp free edge of each vocal fold, running from the vocal process of the arytenoid cartilage forward to the inner surface of the angle of the thyroid cartilage. It is not a separate ligament laid onto the fold — it is the thickened upper free border of the cricovocal membrane, the elastic sheet rising from the cricoid ring beneath. Its fibres are elastic rather than the dense collagen of most ligaments, which is precisely why it can be tensed, slackened and set vibrating by the laryngeal muscles: changing pitch is changing the tension in this cord. It touches no bone at either end.