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How do vibrating vocal cords create voiced sounds such as v and z?

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Diagram of a human head in profile showing the location of vocal organs and possible places of articulation for speech sounds, with labels for lips, teeth, tongue, palate, uvula, pharynx, and vocal cords, and numbered regions corresponding to types of articulation such as bilabial, alveolar, and velar.
pronunciation Diagram depicting the location of human vocal organs and possible places of articulation used for speech.

Voiced sounds like v and z are produced through a process known as phonation, which relies on the myoelastic-aerodynamic theory of voice production.1

When you speak, air is exhaled from the lungs and travels up the trachea to the larynx. To create a voiced sound, the vocal cords are brought together into a closed position by adducting muscles. As air pressure builds up beneath the cords, it forces the glottis open, releasing a puff of air.1

The combination of the vocal cords' elasticity and the aerodynamic effect of the moving air causes the cords to snap shut again. This cycle of opening and closing repeats rapidly, creating vibrations that produce the fundamental tone of the voice. While the larynx generates this raw sound, the specific voiced consonants v and z are further shaped by the mouth, tongue, teeth, and lips to produce their distinct phonetic characteristics. In contrast, voiceless sounds are produced without this vocal cord vibration.1234