Voicelessness

In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of phonation.

The International Phonetic Alphabet has distinct letters for many voiceless and modally voiced pairs of consonants (the obstruents), such as [p b], [t d], [k ɡ], [q ɢ], [f v], and [s z]. In addition, there are diacritics for voicelessness, U+0325  ̥ COMBINING RING BELOW and U+030A  ̊ COMBINING RING ABOVE, which is used for letters with a descender. Diacritics are typically used with letters for prototypically voiced sounds, such as vowels and sonorant consonants: [ḁ], [l̥], [ŋ̊].

Voiceless vowels and other sonorants

Sonorants are those sounds, such as vowels and nasals, that are voiced in most of the world's languages. However, in some languages sonorants may be voiceless, usually allophonically. For example, the Japanese word sukiyaki is pronounced [su̥kijaki]. This may sound like [skijaki] to an English speaker, but the lips can be seen compressing for the [u̥]. Something similar happens in English with words like peculiar [pʰə̥ˈkʰjuːliɚ] and potato [pʰə̥ˈtʰeɪtoʊ]. Voiceless vowels are also an areal feature in languages of the American Southwest (e.g. Hopi and Keres), Great Basin (including all Numic languages), and the Great Plains, where they are present in Numic Comanche but also in Algonquian Cheyenne and Caddoan Arikara.

Fredrik Kempe

Fredrik Kempe, born in Vårgårda on April 29, 1972, is a Swedish songwriter and opera and pop singer. He has participated in Swedish versions of the musicals Les Misérables and Chess. In 2002, Kempe had a hit with Vincerò, where he mixed opera and disco.

Melodifestivalen

Kempe has participated in Melodifestivalen twice as a performer. He entered Melodifestivalen 2004 with the song "Finally", a tribute to his favourite composer Benny Andersson and in 2005 together with Sanna Nielsen singing Du och jag mot världen.

In Melodifestivalen 2007, he co-wrote three songs. One was "Cara Mia", performed by Måns Zelmerlöw and another was "Vågar du, vågar jag", performed by Sanna Nielsen.

In Melodifestivalen 2008 he co-wrote the music and wrote the lyrics to the winning entry, "Hero", performed by Charlotte Perrelli.

Once again in 2009, he wrote the music and lyrics for the winning song "La voix" performed by Malena Ernman.

In 2011 he won Melodifestivalen for the third time, writing the Eric Saade entry "Popular".