Throat clearing

Throat clearing is forcibly, sometimes mutedly, expelling air from one's lungs, sometimes to clear mucus, sometimes to attract attention to something. It is less vigorous than coughing.

Cause

Throat clearing may be articulated consciously or unconsciously, and may be a symptom of a number of conditions, as follows:

Laryngopharyngeal (upper respiratory tract) ailments:{{Cite web|url=https://www.healthgrades.com/symptoms/throat-clearing|title=Throat Clearing - Symptoms, Causes, Treatments|date=June 26, 2014|website=www.healthgrades.com}}
Common cold or post-nasal drip: The nose dispatches mucus which is meant to assist clearing infections and allergens. Mucus which is thick is forced out with a throat clearing sound.
Laryngopharyngeal reflux{{cite news |last1=Campos |first1=Marcelo |title=Constantly clearing your throat? Here's what to try |url=https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/constantly-clearing-your-throat-heres-what-to-try-202204052719 |access-date=8 June 2023 |publisher=Harvard Health Publishing |date=5 April 2022}}
Tics as signs of any of various conditions, including anxiety disorders or Tourette syndrome

Mechanism

Throat clearing is a sound made at the back of the throat.{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/clear-your-throat|title=Clear your throat | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary|website=dictionary.cambridge.org}} The act of clearing the throat causes the folds in the throat to vibrate similar to a cough so it may be harmful if it is continuously practiced.{{cite book |last1=Utterback |first1=Ann S. |title=Broadcast Voice Handbook |date=2000 |publisher=Bonus Books |location=Los Angeles |isbn=978-1566251532 |page=45 |edition=3rd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_EriWkTePLsC&dq=throat-clearing&pg=PA45 |access-date=8 June 2023}}

Onomatopoeia

When the pressure is restricted with a closed mouth, as is common in polite society, the sound is articulated as a single-syllable exclamation, written onomatopoeiacally as "hem";{{cite book |last1=Nänny |first1=Max |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fLrIl-uPoQ8C&q=onomatopoeia+words+ahem+hem&pg=PA137 |title=Form Miming Meaning: Iconicity in Language and Literature |last2=Fischer |first2=Olga |date=1999 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |isbn=9789027221797 |language=en |access-date=25 July 2019}} or it may be articulated as a double-syllable sound, written as "ahem", which is expressed by inhaling slightly and then exhaling more forcibly. An alternate onomatopoeia written "hock" or "hawk" (as in "to hock a loogie") represents the impolite sound of loudly expelling a bolus of sputum with an open mouth.{{Cite web |title=Do You 'hock' or 'hawk' a loogie? |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/do-you-hock-or-hawk-a-loogie |access-date=2024-05-03 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}

Paralanguage

A deliberately executed throat clearing can be a nonverbal, paralingual form of metacommunication.{{Cite web|url=http://onomatopoeialist.com/ahem/|title=ahem|date=August 10, 2013|website=Onomatopoeia List|access-date=July 25, 2019|archive-date=April 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404065206/http://onomatopoeialist.com/ahem/|url-status=dead}} A loud, exaggerated throat-clearing noise may sometimes be used to get attention; as in the case of a parent signaling to a child that they should behave.{{cite book |last1=Nierenberg |first1=Gerard I. |last2=Calero |first2=Henry H. |title=How to Read a Person Like a Book |date=1994 |publisher=Barnes & Noble Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0671735579 |page=102 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4tK3BMnGNCsC&dq=throat-clearing&pg=PA102 |access-date=8 June 2023}}

References

Category:Cough

Category:Gestures