THE SPEECH MECHANISM

HOW HUMANS PRODUCE SPEECH?

Phonetics studies human speech. Speech is produced by bringing air from the
lungs to the larynx (respiration), where the vocal folds may be held open to
allow the air to pass through or may vibrate to make a sound (phonation). The
airflow from the lungs is then shaped by the articulators in the mouth and nose
(articulation).

THE SPEECH SOUNDS

1. To be understood in oral communication, one has to produce the speech
sounds clearly.

2. Consonant sounds are produced with a complete or partial closure of the

vocal tract. They are described in terms of: (1) place or point of
articulation( where the sound is being made), (2) manner of articulation (how
the sound is being produced), and (3) voicing (whether or not the vocal chords
are vibrating.

1. PLACE OF ARTICULATION

The 'Place of Articulation' is the point of contact, where an obstruction occurs

in the vocal tract between an active, moving articulator (typically one part of the
tongue) and a passive articulator (typically one part of the roof of the mouth).;

The diagram below gives a view of the human mouth with arrows pointing to
the places of articulation used in English.

In other words, these are the places where the constrictions and obstructions
of air occur.
 Bilabial

Bilabial consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow out of the mouth by
bringing your lips together.

English contains the following three bilabial consonants:

/p/ as in “purse” and “rap“
/b/ as in “back” and “cab“
/m/ as in “mad” and “clam“

 Labio-Dental

Labio-dental consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow by curling your

lower lip back and raising it to touch your upper row of teeth.
English contains the following two labio-dental sounds:

/f/ as in “fro” and “calf“

/v/ as in “vine” and “have”

 Dental

Dental consonants occur when you block/constrict airflow by placing your

slimy tongue against your upper teeth.

English contains the following two dental sounds:

/θ/ as is “thick” and “bath“
/ð/ as in “the” and “rather”

 Alveolar

The alveolar ridge is where your teeth meet your gums. You create Alveolar
consonants when you raise your tongue to the alveolar ridge to block or
constrict airflow.

The English alveolar consonants are as follows:

 /n/ as in “no” and “man“

 /t/ as in “tab” and “rat“
 /d/ as in “dip” and “bad“
 /s/ as in “suit” and “bus“
 /z/ as in “zit” and “jazz“
 /l/ as in “luck” and “fully”

 Palato -Alveolar
When you retract your tongue back just a bit from the alveolar ridge, the
sounds change enough to be recognized as distinct consonants.
So palato-alveolar consonants are those that occur when the tongue blocks
or constricts airflow at the point just beyond the alveolar ridge.

The palato-alveolar in English consonants are as follows:

 /ʃ/ as in “shot” or “brash”

 /ʒ/ as in “vision” or “measure”
 /tʃ/ as in “chick” or “match”
 /dʒ/ as in “jam” or “badge“

 Palatal

The roof of your mouth is the hard palate. You may know it as “the place that
burns like hell when I eat pizza that is too hot.”
You create Palatal consonants when you raise the tongue to this point and
constrict airflow.

English has only one palatal consonant:

/j/ as in “yes”

 Velar

Behind your hard palate you have the velum or soft palate. Unlike the bony
hard palate in front of it, the this consists of soft, mucousy tissue. You make
Velar Consonants when you raise the back of your tongue to the velum
to block or restrict airflow.

English has the following velar consonants:

/ŋ/ as in “going” and “uncle” (note that the ‘n sound’ in these words is NOT
made at the alveolar ridge, which is why it is distinct from /n/).
/k/ as in “kite” and “back“
/g/ as in “good” and “bug“
/w/ as in “wet” and “howard”

 Glottal

The glottis is actually two vocal folds (i.e. vocal cords). It acts as a sort of bottle
cap to your windpipe.Inhale and then hold your breath for a few seconds while
keeping your mouth open. What you are actually doing to keep the air from
expelling out of your lungs by closing your glottis.

Glottal consonants aren’t actually consonants; they just play consonant roles
in the language. In English, the following things happen at the glottis:
/h/ as in “hi” and “Bahamas.” Say these words and notice how you’re not
actually constricting or blocking airflow for this /h/ sound.

2. MANNER OF ARTICULATION

The manner of articulation is the way the airstream is affected as it flows

from the lungs and out the nose and mouth. Looking at these sounds from a
different perspective will help you develop your physical awareness of
them. Make sure to try these movements out loud to yourself to really feel
them.

 NASAL

Nasal consonants are created when you completely block air flow through your
mouth and let the air pass through your nose.
There are three nasal consonants in English.

/m/ – “mad” and “clam” – oral passage is blocked by closing the lips (bilabial).
/n/ – “no” and “man‘ – oral passage is blocked by pressing tongue tip against
the alveolar ridge (alveolar).
/ŋ/ – “going” and “funk” – Oral passage is blocked by pressing the the back of
your tongue against the soft palate (velar).

 STOP

Like nasal consonants, stop consonants occur when the vocal tract is closed
completely. But for stops the airflow is NOT redirected through the nose.
Instead, the air quickly builds up pressure behind the articulators and then
releases in a burst.
English contains the following stop consonants.

/p/ – purse and rap – oral passage is blocked by closing the lips (bilabial).
/b/ – “back” and “cab” – oral passage is blocked by closing the lips (bilabial).
/t/ – “tab” and “rat” – oral passage is blocked by pressing the tongue tip against
the alveolar ridge (alveolar)
/d/ – “dip” and “bad” – oral passage is blocked by pressing the tongue tip
against the alveolar ridge (alveolar)
/k/ – “kite” and “back” – block airflow with the back of the tongue against the
soft palate (velar).
/g/ – “good” and “bug” – block airflow with the back of the tongue against the
soft palate (velar).

 FRICATIVE

While nasal and stop consonants involve a complete blockage of the vocal
tract, fricative sounds involve only a partial blockage of the vocal tract so
that air has to be forced through a narrow channel.
For example, you create a /t/ stop consonant when you block airflow
completely with your tongue against the alveolar ridge. But if you let up with
the tongue a bit and let the air seep through, you make an
/s/ fricative consonant.

The English fricative sounds are as follows:

/f/ – “fro” and “calf“- air is forced through the upper teeth and lower lip
(labiodental)
/v/ – “vine” and “have” – air is forced through the upper teeth and lower lip
(labiodental)
/θ/ – “thick” and “bath” – air is forced through upper teeth and tongue (dental)
/ð/ – “the” and “rather” – air is forced through upper teeth and tongue (dental)
/s/ – “suit” and “bus” – air is forced through tongue and alveolar ridge (alveolar)
/z/ – “zit” and “jazz” – air is forced through tongue and alveolar ridge (alveolar)
/ʃ/ – “shot” and “brash” – air is forced through the tongue and point just beyond
alveolar ridge (post-alveolar)
/ʒ/ – “vision” and “measure” – air is forced through the tongue and point just
beyond alveolar ridge (post-alveolar)
/h/ – “happy” and “hope” – actually /h/ isn’t a fricative. It’s technically not even a
real consonant sound since there’s no constriction/obstruction of airflow.

 AFFRICATE

When stop consonants mix with fricative consonants, the result is

an affricate consonant. Affricate consonants start as stop sounds with air
building up behind an articulator which then releases through a narrow channel
as a fricative (instead of a clean burst as stops do).

The English affricate sounds are:

/tʃ/ – “chick” and “match” – air is blocked with tongue just beyond the alveolar
ridge (post-alveolar), then released as a fricative.
/dʒ/ – “jam” and “badge” – air is blocked with tongue just beyond the alveolar
ridge (post-alveolar), then released as a fricative.

 APPROXIMANT

Approximants are when two articulators come close together but not
quite close enough to create air turbulence.
The resulting sound is more like a fast vowel than anything else. For example,
the /w/ approximant is like a fast /u/ sound (say /u/ + /aɪ/ really fast and you get
the word “why”). Notice how your tongue never actually comes in contact with
the top of your mouth.

There are three English approximants:

/w/ – “wet” and “howard” – back of tongue raises to velum (but not too close!)
and lips are rounded (velar)
/j/ – “yes” and “bayou” – tongue raises to hard palate (but not too close!)
(palatal)
/ɹ/ – “right” and “roar” – tongue raises to hard palate (but not too close)
(alveolar/post-alveolar)
 LATERAL

Lateral consonants are when the tongue blocks the the middle of your mouth
so that air has to pass around the sides. You create this when you
There is one lateral consonant in English
/l/ – “luck”- place the tip of the tongue at the alveolar ridge (alveolar)

NOTE: REFER TO THE TABLE BELOW TO HAVE A BETTER GRASP

ABOUT THE PLACE AND MANNER OF ARTICULATION.
3. VOICING

Voice, in phonetics, is the sound that is produced by the vibration of the vocal
cords. All vowels are normally voiced, but consonants may be either voiced or
voiceless (i.e., uttered without vibration of the vocal cords).
ONLINE REFERENCES:

https://www.mimicmethod.com/ft101/manner-of-articulation/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/voice-phonetics