Lowest Vocal Register

Vocal fry is the lowest vocal register, produced when the vocal folds vibrate irregularly at very low frequencies, creating a creaky, rattling sound. Linguistically, it is called creaky voice or glottalization.

The pattern became culturally prominent in the 2010s, often associated with young women's speech patterns in American English. The label stuck, even though the same creak appears across genders and accents.