Simplified Notes: Speech Production & Acoustic Phonetics
3.1 Introduction
Purpose: Speech communicates information via pressure waves from speaker
to listener.
Signal: Non-stationary (constantly changing), created by muscles moving in
the vocal tract.
Sound Classes:
o Vowels: Unrestricted airflow, stronger.
o Consonants: Restricted airflow, weaker.
Production: Air is exhaled from lungs. The vocal tract acts like a filter that
shapes sound from a source.
o Source: Can be voiced (periodic, from vocal fold vibration)
or unvoiced (noisy, aperiodic).
Key Point: Speech is a smooth transition between sounds, not a series of
abrupt, steady states.
3.2 Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech Organs
Organs used for speech (lungs, larynx, mouth) also serve other functions like
breathing and eating.
3.2.1 The Lungs and Thorax
Air Source: Lungs provide the airflow for speech.
Breathing vs. Speaking:
o Breathing: Inhale and exhale are roughly equal in time.
o Speaking: Exhalation is much longer than inhalation (ratio can be 1:10
or more).
Air Pressure: Speech requires low pressure (only ~10 cm H₂O), which is
very small compared to atmospheric pressure.
Ingressive vs. Egressive:
o Egressive: Normal speech (air pushed out).
o Ingressive: Rare sounds like clicks (air sucked in).
3.2.2 Larynx and Vocal Folds (Cords)
Location: In the throat. Contains the vocal folds.
Function: To interrupt airflow and create sound.
Voiced Sounds: Vocal folds vibrate, creating a periodic pulse of air
(the fundamental frequency, F0).
Unvoiced Sounds: Vocal folds are open or create a narrow constriction,
causing turbulent, noisy airflow (e.g., whisper, /h/ sound).
Myoelastic-Aerodynamic Theory: Explains how vocal folds vibrate:
1. Air pressure blows folds apart.
2. Airflow through narrow glottis creates suction (Bernoulli effect),
pulling folds back together.
3. Elasticity of folds helps them return to closed position. Cycle repeats.
Fundamental Frequency (F0/Pitch):
o Controlled by tension and length of vocal folds
(muscles: vocalis, cricothyroid).
o Also influenced by air pressure from lungs.
o Average: ~132 Hz (men), ~223 Hz (women). Can vary over an octave or
more.
Phonation Types (How voice sounds):
o Modal Register: Normal voicing.
o Breathy Voice: Vocal folds don't fully close, mix voice with air noise.
o Creaky Voice / Vocal Fry: Very low, irregular F0. Folds are thick and
slack, closed most of the time.
o Falsetto: Very high F0. Only thin edges of folds vibrate.
Jitter & Shimmer: Tiny, natural variations in period (jitter) and amplitude
(shimmer) of vocal fold vibration. Too much causes a hoarse voice.
3.2.3 Vocal Tract
The Filter: The tube from the vocal folds to the lips (and nostrils).
Function: Shapes the sound from the source into different speech sounds by
amplifying some frequencies (formants) and attenuating others.
Parts:
o Pharyngeal Cavity: Throat.
o Oral Cavity: Mouth.
o Nasal Cavity: Nose. Opened or closed by the velum (soft palate). It
dampens sound.
Articulators (Moving Parts):
o Lips: Can close, round, or spread.
o Teeth: Used for sounds like /f/ and /θ/.
o Alveolar Ridge: Bumpy ridge behind teeth. Important for sounds like
/t/, /d/, /s/.
o Hard Palate: Roof of the mouth.
o Velum (Soft Palate: Controls nasal airflow.
o Tongue: The most important articulator. Divided into:
Tip: Very fast and agile.
Blade: Behind the tip.
Dorsum (Body): Main mass.
Root: Controls the body.
Articulator Movement:
o Ballistic Motion: Fast, "throw-like" movement (e.g., closing the lips for
/p/).
o Controlled Motion: Slower, precise movement using opposing muscles.
3.3 Articulatory Phonetics
Links speech sounds to the positions and movements of the articulators.
Key Concepts:
Phoneme: The smallest meaningful sound unit in a language (e.g., /p/, /i:/).
English has about 40.
Phone: The actual physical sound produced.
Allophone: Slightly different versions of the same phoneme that don't change
word meaning (e.g., the /k/ in "keel" is pronounced further forward than the
/k/ in "cool").
Coarticulation: The phenomenon where the articulation of one sound
influences neighboring sounds. This is why speech can't be neatly chopped
into separate segments.
3.3.1 Manner of Articulation (How airflow is shaped)
Vowels & Diphthongs: Open vocal tract, no turbulence.
Glides (/j/, /w/): Like fast vowels, very slight constriction.
Liquids (/l/, /r/): Tongue obstructs airflow, deflecting it.
Nasals (/m/, /n/, /ŋ/): Velum is lowered, air flows through the nose while
mouth is blocked.
Fricatives (e.g., /s/, /f/, /v/): Narrow constriction creates turbulent noise.
Stops/Plosives (e.g., /p/, /t/, /k/): Complete closure, then a release burst of
sound.
Affricates (e.g., /tʃ/ in "church"): A stop followed immediately by a
fricative.
3.3.2 Syllable Structure
A syllable must have a vowel (the nucleus).
Consonants can come before (onset) and after (coda) the vowel.
Sonority: The "loudness" of a sound class. Order from most to least sonorous:
Vowels > Glides > Liquids > Nasals > Fricatives > Stops. Syllable amplitude
follows this pattern.
3.3.3 Voicing
Whether the vocal folds vibrate during the sound.
Voiced: /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /z/, vowels, etc.
Unvoiced: /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /s/, etc.
Voice Onset Time (VOT): The time between the release of a stop (e.g., /p/)
and the start of vocal fold vibration. crucial for telling /p/ (long VOT) from /b/
(short VOT).
3.3.4 Place of Articulation (Where constriction happens)
For Consonants:
1. Bilabial: Both lips (/p/, /b/, /m/)
2. Labiodental: Lip-teeth (/f/, /v/)
3. Dental/Interdental: Tongue-teeth (/θ/, /ð/)
4. Alveolar: Tongue-alveolar ridge (/t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/, /l/)
5. Palatal: Tongue-hard palate (/ʃ/, /ʒ/, /j/, /r/)
6. Velar: Tongue-soft palate (/k/, /g/, /ŋ/)
7. Glottal: At the vocal folds (/h/, /ʔ/)
For Vowels: Classified by:
o Tongue Height: High, Mid, Low (e.g., /i/ is high, /a/ is low).
o Tongue Position: Front, Central, Back (e.g., /i/ is front, /u/ is back).
o Lip Rounding: Rounded or Unrounded (e.g., /u/ is rounded, /i/ is
unrounded).
o Tenseness: Tense vowels are longer and more extreme (/i/, /u/); Lax
vowels are shorter and more central (/ɪ/, /ʊ/).