The Speech Organs
How speech organs work in producing the speech sounds?
How sounds are produced?
• Most sounds are produced by an air stream from lungs through one
or more speech organs.
• Where and how obstructions are in the air stream determine the
identity of the sound produced.
Speech Production Mechanism
VOCAL FOLDS
• Nasal cavity
• Oral cavity
(shapes
• Pharynx
sounds)
LARYNX
• Vocal folds
• Glottis (voicing)
LUNGS • Energy source
Speech Production Mechanism
Speech organs
• Speech organs, or articulators, produce the speech sounds of a
language.
• Organs used for speech include the lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, hard
palate, velum (soft palate), uvula, glottis and various parts of the
tongue.
Speech organs
• They can be divided into two types: passive articulators and active
articulators.
• Active articulators move relative to passive articulators, which remain
still, to produce various speech sounds, in particular manners of
articulation.
• The upper lip, teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate, soft palate, uvula,
and pharynx wall are passive articulators.
Speech organs
• The most important active articulator is the tongue as it is involved in
the production of the majority of sounds.
• The lower lip is another active articulator.
• But glottis is not an active articulator because it is only a space
between vocal folds.
The lungs
• The lungs are a pair of spongy organs which are inside the rib cage.
• We speak with the air from the lungs. We draw the air into the lungs
and we release it slowly and then interfere with its passage in various
ways and at various places.
• Their function is providing the air necessary for producing speech
sounds.
The vocal folds
• They are bands of elastic tissues in the larynx which can
1. vibrate
2. cause voice
3. Allow free passage of air; for voiceless sounds
4. Completely stop the air-flow
The vocal folds
• The air which is released by the lungs comes through the windpipe
and arrives first at the larynx.
• The windpipe is a tube that connects the larynx to the lungs and its
function is carrying the air from the lungs to the larynx.
The vocal folds
• The gap between the vocal folds through which the air can pass or is
blocked is called glottis.
The vocal folds can be in three different states:
1. Tightly closed
2. Very narrow
3. Wide apart (open)
1. Tightly closed
• The vocal folds are tightly pressed together and no air can pass
through them. If the lungs are pushing air from below, this air is
compressed.
• If the vocal folds are then opened suddenly the compressed air bursts
out with a sort of coughing noise. This state produces a glottal stop.
• The audible release of a complete closure at the glottis is known as a
glottal stop, transcribed [ʔ].
• In English, the glottal stop is represented, for example, by the hyphen
in uh-oh [ʌʔəʊ.].
Example: water [wɔːtə] [wɔːʔə]
2. Very narrow
• The vocal folds can be brought together gently. The air from the lungs
will be able to force them apart for a moment; but then they will
return to the closed position, then the air forces them apart again
and they will close again and so on.
• This state produces a musical note which is called voice. They height
of the musical note depends on the speed of the opening and closing
the vocal folds.
• Voice is a musical note generated by vibration of the vocal colds.
Voiced sounds have this vibration [m, l, a:], voiceless sounds do not
have [p, s, tʃ].
3. Wide apart (open)
• The vocal folds can be drawn wide apart. The air can pass out freely
between them and there is no vibration. This state produces voiceless
sounds [p, t, f, k]
The pharynx
• It is a space which is above the larynx and behind the tongue.
The pharynx
At its tope end, it is divided into two parts:
1. Oral cavity: it produces oral sounds which include all English sounds
except /m,n, ŋ/.
2. Nasal cavity: It produces the nasal sounds which are /m,n, ŋ/.
Oral sounds VS. Nasal sounds
Oral sounds Nasal sounds
• The soft palate is raised. • The soft palate is lowered.
• The air goes out through • The air goes out through the
the mouth. nose.
• All English sounds are • Nasal sounds are /m,n, ŋ/.
considered as oral
sounds except /m,n, ŋ/.
Oral sounds VS. Nasal sounds
• How the air is released through the oral cavity and nasal cavity.
The palate
• It forms the roof of the mouth and separates the oral cavity from the
nasal cavity.
The palate
The palate is divided into three parts:
1. Alveolar ridge
2. Hard palate
3. Soft palate
1. Alveolar ridge
• The part of the upper surface of the mouth immediately behind the
front teeth.
• The alveolar ridge is important in producing the speech sounds
because many of the consonants, /t, d, n, l, r, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/, are
made by the tongue touching or close to it.
2. Hard palate
• The bony structure that forms the roof of the front part of mouth.
• It is the highest part of the palate between the alveolar ridge and the
soft palate which is hard and in fixed positions.
• The hard palate is used by the tongue to interfere with the airstream
to produce /j/.
3. The soft palate (velum)
• It is the soft, movable part of the palate at the back of the mouth.
• The soft palate (velum) is touched by the tongue to produce /k, g/.
The states of soft palate
1. The soft palate can be raised so that it makes a firm contact with
the back wall of the pharynx and this stops the breath from going
up into the nasal cavity and forces it go into the mouth only. This
state of the soft palate can be used in producing all of the speech
sounds except / m,n, ŋ/.
2. The soft palate can be lowered so that it allows the breath to pass
behind it and up into the nasal cavity out through the nose. This is
the state for /m,n, ŋ/ only.
The state of soft palate
The teeth
• The lower front teeth are not important in speech except that if they
are missing certain sounds, /s/ and /z/, will be difficult to make. But
the two upper front teeth are used in English to some extend.
The teeth
The teeth are helpful in producing the speech sounds:
1. The lower front teeth are involved in making /s/ and /z/.
2. The upper front teeth are touched by the tip of the tongue to
produce / θ / and / ð /.
The tongue
• It is the most important of the organs of speech because it has the
greatest variety of movement.
The parts of the tongue
1. tip
2. blade
3. front
4. back
The parts of the tongue
1. The tip
It is the most forward part of all and lies under the alveolar ridge.
2. The blade
It lies under the alveolar ridge.
The tip and blade are particularly mobile (movable) and they can touch
the whole of the lips, the teeth, the alveolar ridge and the hard palate.
The parts of the tongue
3. The front
It lies under the hard palate.
4. The back
It lies under the soft palate.
The lips
• The lips can take up different positions:
1. Closed position: The lips can be brought firmly together to
completely block the mouth as in producing /p, b, m/.
2. The lip-teeth positions: The lower lip can be brought into contact
with the upper front teeth as in producing /f, v/.
3. Open position: The lips can also be kept apart as in producing /ɔː/.