ORGAN OF SPEECH
A. Introduction
All the sounds that made when speaking are the result of muscles contracting. The
muscles in the chest that used for breathing produce the flow of air that is needed for
almost all speech sounds; muscles in the larynx produce many different modifications in
the flow of air from the chest to the mouth. After passing through the larynx, the air goes
through is called the vocal tract, which ends at the mouth and nostrils. Here the air from
the lungs escapes into the atmosphere. We have a large and complex set of muscles that
can produce changes in the shape of the vocal tract, and in order to learn how the sounds
of speech are produced it is necessary to become familiar with the different parts of the
vocal tract. These different parts are called articulators, and the study of them is called
articulatory phonetics.
Speech sounds are made by air moving outward from the lungs through the mouth
or nose. Different speech sounds result when the airstream is altered in some way by the
positioning of various parts of the mouth. Some sounds are made as a result of the lips
altering the airstream while other sounds are made as a result of the tongue altering the
airstream.
1
B. Discussion
1. Nasal and oral
Nasal sound is produced when the velum is lowered, so the air escapes not only
through the mouth but also the nose. Eg: m, n. Oral sound is produced when the
velum is riced, so the air escapes only through the mouth. E.g: b, d, g.1
At the upper end, the passageway splits in two-one portion leading to the nasal
cavity (the space inside the nose) and the other to the oral cavity (the space inside the
mouth). The position of the soft palate determines whether the airstream is directed
into one or the other.
The function of the soft palate can be likened to that of a railway points
mechanism. It switches the airstream to flow either (1) out through the mouth (soft
palate raised) and without passing through the nose, (2) through the nose. In the case
of (1) there is no nasal resonance and the resulting sound is termed oral or non-nasal.
In the case of (2) (soft palate lowered) nasal resonance is added and the sound is
termed nasal.
Most speech sounds are oral, made with a velic closure (soft palate raised). But
nearly all languages have nasal consonants, e.g. m, n. 2
1
Peter Avery and Susan Ehrlich, Teaching American English Pronuncation, (UK: Oxford University Press,
1992), p. 21.
2
Baverley Collins, and Inger M. Mees, Practical Phonetics and Phonology, (London: Routledge, 2003), p.
34-35.
2
2. Articulators
The articulatory system is contained in the head and throat above the larynx –
termed the supra glottal vocal tract (from Latin supra = ‘above, hence ‘above the
glottis’), usually abbreviaeted the simply to ‘vocal tract. It can distinguish 3
resonathing capities.
As the airstream asses through these cavities the nature of the vocal buzz is
altered, inceasing (amplifying) some parts of it and diminishing (damping) others.
This is in many ways comparable to the different made to the sound produced by a
vibrating reed by the tube and bell of a axophone (other similar wind instruments).
Alteration the shape of the paringeal and oral cavities change the shape of the
resonating chambers and modify the quality of the sounds produced, particularly the
vowels. Furthermore, the air passing from the lungs can be blocked off by the
articulators and released to make little pop-like explosions, or made to pass through
narrowings to produced hiss-type noise.3
3
Ibid., p., 34.
3
a. Teeth (Latin dentes; adj. dental)
The term dental normally implies a sound made by tongue-tip against or close
to the front teeth. E.g English /θ ð/. These articulations usually pose problems
for non –native learners of English. In the languages of the world, dental
fricatives similar to English /θ/ and /ð/ are not as unusually as is sometimes
supposed.4
The teeth (upper and lower) are usually shown in front of the mouth,
immediately behind the lips. The tongue is in contact with the upper side teeth
for many speech sound. Sounds made with the tongue touching the front teeth
are called dental.5
b. Lips (Latin labia; adj. labial; bilabial = ‘two lips’)
The two lips can close to block the airstream, as for bilabial /p b m/ in
English. Or the lips can allow air through, being so close together that audible
friction is produced, as for the Spanish bilabial sound [β] spelt b or v, e.g. Ibiza
or aviso ‘warning’.
4
Ibid., p., 36.
5
Peter Roach, English Phonetic And Phonology: A Practical Course, (UK: Cambridge University Press,
2000), the Third Edition, p. 9-10.
4
The lower lip can also be held close to the upper teeth, as for /f v/ (e.g.
fan,van). Such lip-teeth articulations are termed labio-dental.
For vowels, the lips may be rounded (as in the English thought vowel),
neutral (as in English palm) or spread (as in English fleece). Consonant may also
be lip-rounded; English /w/ has strongly rounded lips, and for most speakers, /r/
is also rounded. The lips can also be protruded – often even made ‘trumpet-
shaped’, as for English / ʃ ʒ tʃ dʒ/, e.g. ship, measure, aitch, bridge.6
The lips are important in speech. They can be pressed together (when we
produce the sounds p, b), brought into contact with the teeth (as in f, v), or
rounded to produce the lip-shape for vowels like u:. Sounds in which the lips are
in contact with each other are called bilabial, while those with lip-to-teeth
contact are called labiodental.7
c. Tongue
The body of the tongue, consisting almost entirely of muscle, is very flexible
and capable of assuming a wide variety of different shapes. Although it has no
natural anatomical divisions, it is necessary for phonetic analysis to distinguish
its various portions: tip, blade, front, blade and root.
The tip of the tongue is a very sensitive organ of touch-much more sensitive,
in fact, than the finger tips-but this diminishes as we move towards the back of
the tongue.
6
Baverley Collins, and Inger M. Mees, [Link]., p. 35.
7
Peter Roach, [Link]., p. 10.
5
Two other important facts about the tongue are that:
1) The sides of the tongue can be lowered for lateral sounds, e.g [l]
2) The tongue can be depressed making a groove down the mid-line. This is
very important for the sounds [s] and [z].8
d. Alveolar ridge
Alveolar ridge is between the top front teeth and the hard palate. You can
feel it’s shape with your tongue. It’s surface is really much rougher than it’s
feels, and is covered with little ridges. You can only see these if you have a
mirror small enough to go inside your mouth (such as those used by dentists).
Sounds made with the tongue touching here (such as t and d).are called
alveolar.9
Alveolar ridge (from latin alveolus ‘small hollow’, referring to the tooth
sockets). Now let’s deal with the roof of the mouth. The term alveolar
implies that the tongue-tip or blade is in contact or near-contact with the upper
alveolar ridge, i.e. the ridge immediately behind the front teeth. A large number
of the English consonant are alveolar articulations, e.g. / t d s z n/.10
8
Baverley Collins and Inger M. Mees, [Link]., p. 38-39.
9
Peter Roach, op cit., p. 9.
10
Baverly Collins and Inger M. Mees, Op Cit., p. 37.
6
e. Hard Palate
The hard palate is often called the “roof of the mouth”. You can feel it’s
smooth curved surface with your tongue.11
The term ‘palatal’ means that the central portion of the tongue articulates
with the hard palate, e.g. [j]. Note that when applied to the description of sounds
‘palatal’ is only used for those involving the hard palate. See below for sounds
formed by the back of the tongue against the soft palate (termed ‘velar’). For /ʃ/,
as in ship, a large portion of the tongue rises to articulate with the alveolar ridge
and the front of the hard palate. Such articulations are termed palate-alveola.
Similar palate-alveolar articulations are heard in /ʒ/ in measure, /tʃ/ in choke, /
dʒ/ in joke. (Note that many linguist nowadays use the term post-alveolar
instead of palato-alveolar. See the International Phonetic Alphabet symbol chat,
p. 295).12
f. Soft Palate or Velum
If you feel brave, run your finger further back to determine where the hard
palate joins the soft palate. You’ll be aware of a sensation, called the ‘gag
reflex”, which makes you want to vomit. Its Purpose is to deter from swallowing
large objects.
One of the important functions of the soft palate was explained above,
namely of directing the airstream either into the nasal cavity (if lowered, i.e.
absence of velic closure) or into the oral cavity (soft palate raised, velic closure).
11
Peter Roach, op cit., p. 9.
12
Beverly Collins and Inger M. Mees, Op,Cit, p., 37
7
But the soft palate can also be used as a place of articulation. Sounds made with
the back of the tongue against the soft palate are called velar. Note that /k g ŋ/
are velar consonant, but only /k g/ have a velic closure.13
g. Uvula
The velum ends in a lump of flesh called the uvula. It is quite possible to
see this organ (which does indeed look something like a little pink grape) and to
make it vibrate, so producing a uvular trill. It’s much the same kind of action as
gargling. Several European languages, including French, German, Dutch,
Danish, have forms of uvular articulation for /r/, all with the airstream channeled
between uvula and the back of the tongue. Uvular /r/ is unusual in English but
unknown. Geordies (from the north-east of England) sometimes produce /r/ in
this way.14
13
Ibid., p. 37
14
Ibid., p. 37-38
8
h. Pharynx
The pharynx is a tube which begins just above the larynx. It is about 7 cm
long in women and about 8 cm in men, and at its top end it is divided into two,
one part being the back of the mouth and the other being the beginning of the
way through the nasal cavity. If you look in your mirror with your mouth open,
you can see the back of the pharynx.15
15
Peter Roach, [Link]., p. 9
9
REFERENCE
Baverley Collins, and Inger M. Mees, Practical Phonetics and Phonology, London: Routledge,
2003.
Peter Avery and Susan Ehrlich, Teaching American English Pronuncation, UK: Oxford University
Press, 1992.
Peter Roach, English Phonetic And Phonology: A Practical Course, UK: Cambridge University
Press, 2000.
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