SPEECH

Oral Physiology
Dent 207
Speech

 Oral cavity only assists in breathing when

nasal breathing is insufficient
 Mouth controls & modifies expiratory air flow
– Producing a variety of sounds
Generation of sound frequency

 The production of intelligible speech sounds

is a modification of expiration by
– Forcing outflowing air through a narrow gap –
– Bounded by structures of variable & controllable
elasticity (vocal cords)
 Position, length & tension of vocal cords are
controlled by the laryngeal muscles
Neural control of speech
 Vagus nerve
– Recurrent laryngeal nerve
– External laryngeal nerve
 Ultimate control from cerebral cortex
– Broca’s area, controlled by
– Wernicke’s area
 Speech production is controlled from the categorical
hemisphere (left)
– Lesions on the representational side (right) have no effect on
speech
Broca’s area

 Just above the Sylvian fissure

 Controls actual word formation & necessary
adjustment of respiration
 By activating appropriate muscle signaling in
the motor cortex
Wernicke’s area

 In the superior temporal gyrus

 Linked to the Broca’s area by arcuate
fasciculus
 Concerned with
– Understanding of language (spoken or written)
– Generation of intelligible speech
Lesions affecting speech areas

 Fluent aphasia
– Wernicke’s area or arcuate fasciculus
– Patient can generate a mixture of recognizable &
nonsense words that do not link together into
intelligible speech
 Errors of articulation
– Broca’s area
Sound vs. speech
 Sound
– Control of expiration
– Vocal cords
– A mixture of frequencies
 Speech - sound modified by
– Stoppage of airflow
– Amplification of certain frequencies
– By muscular activity of oral & perioral regions

 Loudness depends on force of expiration

 Bony conduction vs. airborne conduction
 Bony sinuses
Vocal sounds become intelligible
speech

 Two process
– Selective amplification of particular frequencies
 By variation of size of resonating chambers
– Controlled release of expired air
 Two terms
– Phonation
 Production & selection of frequencies (vowels)
– Articulation
 Patterning of air release (consonants)
Males vs. females
 Later puberty of males
 More time for growth of laryngeal cartilages
 Longer vocal cords
 Changes in puberty
– Frequency in males drops by an octave
– Frequency in females drops by 2-3 tones
 Voice frequency
– Human ear: greatest sensitivity 1000 – 4000 Hz
– Males: 100 – 150 Hz
– Females: 200 – 300 Hz
– Singers
 Trained for 50 Hz or 1000 Hz
 The lowest is 27 Hz
 Highest 4000 Hz
Resonators
 Vestibular, laryngeal, pharyngeal resonators
– Fixed in form
 Nasal, paranasal sinus resonator
– Fixed in form
– Variation of sound depends on whether used or not
– Not used when air is directed through the mouth
 Labial, vestibular resonator
– Unimportant
 Oral resonator – separated by the tongue into
– Anterior, posterior
– Size affected by tongue position
Resonators
Vowel sound
 Two formant frequency for a vowel
– A lower frequency amplified by posterior oral chamber
– A higher frequency amplified by anterior oral chamber
 Position of the tongue
– Changes the relative size of anterior & posterior resonators
– Tongue posterior – a
– Tongue further forward – i
– Space between tongue & palate gives different qualities of the
vowel
 Soft palate seals off the nasal cavity in English vowels
 Nasal cavity remains continuous with oropharynx in
some French vowels
 Clicks & consonants

 Controlling the release of the vibrating air

 Bringing oral structure together & then
separating them
Clicks

 Sound produced when air flows through a

low pressure zone created when articulating
structures are held together then separated
over a small area
Consonants
 Sound produced when airflow is stopped in initiation,
ending & separation of vowel sounds
 Classified according
– Anatomical location at which airflow is impeded
– Degree of impedance – partial / complete
 Bilabial, labiodental, linguodental
 Lingupalatal
– Alveolar
– Prepalatal
– Velar
– Glottal
Bilabial consonants

 Nasal sound - M
 Plosive sound – B, P
 At mandibular rest position
– Used to determine rest position in dental
prosthetics
Incomplete stoppage of airflow

 Rolled sound - R
 Lateral sound – L
 Fricative sound
– Leaving a slit or rounded opening
– Th, Z, V, Y, F, S, W, Y
 Affricative sound (with sudden release)
– J, CH
Other factors

 Volume of airflow
– D vs. T
 Voiced consonants – strong
– that
 Unvoiced consonant – weak
– Thin
Influence of malocclusion & dental
procedures on sounds

 Alteration in the volume of oral & nasal

resonators
 Position & size of structures impeding airflow
during articulation
Malocclusive & dental factors
 Palatal vault height
 Tongue size
 Clefts
 Tonsilitis
 Functional abnormality of palatal muscles
– Myasthenia gravis
 Short upper lip
 Lack of lip seal
 Missing, malposed incisors
 Tied tongue
 Prosthetic / orthodontic appliance