Abstrakt
Speech has been studied for hundreds of years, but relevant observations often blend with errors due to different biases and the lack of instrumental means. The functioning of the larynx was especially prone to speculation.
Before the laryngoscopic era, only excised or artificial larynces could be studied. Laryngoscopy was founded by J.
N. Čermák when he significantly improved the laryngeal mirror. Another development was the use of stroboscopy to examine the vibratory mechanism of the vocal folds in addition to the shapes of the glottis, followed later by high-speed cinematography.
The article shows the contribution of Czech researchers to the field, in terms of both methods and findings. It also describes a recently discovered copy of a film from 1928 capturing the activity of the vocal folds.