THE ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF SPEECH

PRODUCTION

COMPILED BY GROUPS 2 :

VIDYA FAJRIN. (2191000320018)

KHOIROTUN NAZI.LAH (2191000320030)

HAFID FERDIA.N (2191000320039)

MUHAMMAD NUR .AFIF (2191000320041)

DIAH DWIMIRANTI NIL.A ANDINI (2191000320061)

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 .TABLE OF .CONTENTS

COVER

TABLE. OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

DISCUSSION

 THE ORGANS OF SPEECH

 ARTICULATORY PHONETICS

CONCLUSION
 INTRODUCTION

Speech sound is a wave of air that originates from complex actions of the human body,
supported by three functional units: generation of air pressure, regulation of vibration, and
control of resonators. The lung air pressure for speech results from functions of the respiratory
system during a prolonged phase of expiration after a short inhalation. Vibrations of air for
voiced sounds are introduced by the vocal folds in the larynx; they are controlled by a set of
laryngeal muscles and airflow from the lungs. The oscillation of the vocal folds converts the
expiratory air into intermittent airflow pulses that result in a buzzing sound. The narrow
constrictions of the airway along the tract above the larynx also generate transient source
sounds; their pressure gives rise to an airstream with turbulence or burst sounds.

The resonators are formed in the upper respiratory tract by the pharyngeal, oral, and
nasal cavities. These cavities act as resonance chambers to transform the laryngeal buzz or
turbulence sounds into the sounds with special linguistic functions. The main articulators are
the tongue, lower jaw, lips, and velum. They generate patterned movements to alter the
resonance characteristics of the supra-laryngeal airway. In this chapter, contemporary views on
phonatory and articulatory mechanisms are summarized to illustrate the physiological
processes of speech production, with brief notes on their observation techniques.
THE ORGANS OF SPEECH

The various organs which are involved in the production of speech sounds are called speech
organs (also known as vocal organs). The study of speech organs helps to determine the role of
each organ in the production of speech sounds. They include the lungs, the vocal folds, and most
importantly the articulators.

1. The Tongue

The tongue is the major articulator in phonation. Some sounds produced by the tongue
are /t/ and /g/. It is active and composed of muscle. Without it, speech production cannot
occur. To reference: in medieval times, tongues were removed from those who betrayed
the royal family and, as a result, these individuals became known as ‘mutes’ because they
could no longer speak.

2. The Teeth

The role of the teeth in phonation is more Important than one might imagine. Te teeth
provide an important place of articulation for the tongue and the lips. Tey work together
seamlessly and quickly to produce sound. Without teeth, we cannot speak.

3. The Lips

Te purpose of the lips is to open and close accordingly to create speech. When producing
English phonemes, the lips help to create varying sounds like /p, b, m/. Tese sounds are
called bilabial sounds because they involve using both the upper and lower lips

4. The Larynx & the Vocal Folds

The larynx is colloquially known as the voice box. It is a box-like small structure situated
in the front of the throat where there is a protuberance. For this reason, the larynx is
popularly called the Adam’s apple. This casing is formed of cartilages and muscles. It
protects as well as houses the trachea (also known as windpipe, oesophagus, esophagus)
and the vocal folds (formerly they were called vocal cords). The vocal folds are like a
pair of lips placed horizontally from front to back. They are joined in the front but can be
separated at the back. The opening between them is called the glottis. The glottis is
considered to be in open state when the folds are apart, and when the folds are pressed
together the glottis is considered to be in close state.

The opening of the vocal folds takes different positions:

Wide Apart: When the folds are wide apart they do not vibrate. The sounds produced in
such position are called breathed or voiceless sounds. For example: /p/f/θ/s/.
 Narrow Glottis: If the air is passed through the glottis when it is narrowed then there is an
audible friction. Such sounds are also voiceless since the vocal folds do not vibrate. For
example, in English /h/ is a voiceless glottal fricative sound.

Tightly Closed: The vocal folds can be firmly pressed together so that the air cannot pass
between them. Such a position produces a glottal stop / ʔ / (also known as glottal catch,
glottal plosive).

Touched or Nearly Touched: The major role of the vocal folds is that of a vibrator in the
production of speech. The folds vibrate when these two are touching each other or nearly
touching. The pressure of the air coming from the lungs makes them vibrate. This
vibration of the folds produces a musical note called the voice. And sounds produced in
such manner are called voiced sounds. In English all the vowel sounds and the
consonants /v/z/m/n/are voiced.

Thus it is clear that the main function of the vocal folds is to convert the air delivered by
the lungs into audible sound. The opening and closing process of the vocal folds
manipulates the airflow to control the pitch and the tone of speech sounds. As a result, we
have different qualities of sounds.

5. Pharynx, (Greek: “throat”) cone-shaped passageway leading from the oral and nasal
cavities in the head to the esophagus and larynx. The pharynx chamber serves both
respiratory and digestive functions. Thick fibres of muscle and connective tissue attach
the pharynx to the base of the skull and surrounding structures. Both circular and
longitudinal muscles occur in the walls of the pharynx; the circular muscles form
constrictions that help push food to the esophagus and prevent air from being swallowed,
while the longitudinal fibres lift the walls of the pharynx during swallowing.

The pharynx consists of three main divisions. The anterior portion is the nasal pharynx,
the back section of the nasal cavity. The nasal pharynx connects to the second region, the
oral pharynx, by means of a passage called an isthmus. The oral pharynx begins at the
back of the mouth cavity and continues down the throat to the epiglottis, a flap of tissue
that covers the air passage to the lungs and that channels food to the esophagus.
Triangular-shaped recesses in the walls of this region house the palatine tonsils, two
masses of lymphatic tissue prone to infection. The isthmus connecting the oral and nasal
regions is extremely beneficial in humans. It allows them to breathe through either the
nose or the mouth and, when medically necessary, allows food to be passed to the
esophagus by nasal tubes. The third region is the laryngeal pharynx, which begins at the
epiglottis and leads down to the esophagus. Its function is to regulate the passage of air to
the lungs and food to the esophagus.
6. The Velum

The soft palate the soft portion of the roof of the mouth, lying behind the hard palate.The
velum performs two important roles in speech:

 The tongue body hits it in order to make the sounds [k], [ɡ], and [ŋ].

 It acts as the “gatekeeper” to the nasal cavity. Normally during speech, the velum
is in its raised position, blocking off airflow through the nose. But during some
sounds (the nasal sounds, like [m], [n], and [ŋ]) it lowers and allows air to flow
through the nose.
Sounds that are made with the velum are called velar sounds.

7. Nasal Cavity

In phonetics, speech sound in which the airstream passes through the nose as a result of
the lowering of the soft palate (velum) at the back of the mouth. In the case of nasal
consonants, such as English m, n, and ng (the final sound in “sing”), the mouth is
occluded at some point by the lips or tongue and the airstream is expelled entirely
through the nose. Sounds in which the airstream is expelled partly through the nose and
partly through the mouth are classified as nasalized. Nasalized vowels are common in
French (e.g., in vin “wine,” bon “good,” and enfant “child”), Portuguese, and a number of
other languages. There are also instances of nasalized consonants in which the feature of
nasalization carries over to a typically nonnasal consonant (e.g., the l in French branlant,
“shaky”).
ARTICULATORY PHONETICS

The production of speech involves 3 processes:

Initiation: Setting air in motion through the vocal tract.

Phonation: The modification of airflow as it passes through the larynx (related to voicing).

Articulation: The shaping of airflow to generate particular sound types (related to manners

Articulatory phonetics refers to the “aspects of phonetics which looks at how the sounds of
speech are made with the organs of the vocal tract” Ogden (2009:173).

Articulatory phonetics can be seen as divided up into three areas to describe consonants. These
are voice, place and manner respectively. Each of these will now be discussed separately,
although all three areas combine together in the production of speech. 

1) Voice

In English we have both voiced and voiceless sounds. A sound fits into one of these categories
according to how the vocal folds behave when a speech sound is produced.

Voiced: Voiced sounds are sounds that involve vocal fold vibrations when they are produced.
Examples of voiced sounds are /b,d,v,m/.

If you place two fingers on either side of the front of your neck, just below your jawbone, and
produce a sound, you should be able to feel a vibrating sensation. This tells you that a sound is
voiced.

Voiceless: Voiceless sounds are sounds that are produced with no vocal fold vibration. Examples
of voiceless sounds in English are /s,t,p,f/.

2) Place

The vocal tract is made up of different sections, which play a pivotal role in the production of
speech. These sections are called articulators and are what make speech sounds possible. They
can be divided into two types.

The active articulator is the articulator that moves towards another articulator in the production
of a speech sound. This articulator moves towards another articulator to form a closure of some
type in the vocal tract (i.e open approximation, close, etc – define)

The passive articulator is the articulator that remains stationary in the production of a speech
sound. Often, this is the destination that the active articulator moves towards (i.e the hard palate).
 

I will now talk about the different places of articulation in the vocal tract

 Bilabial: Bilabial sounds involve the upper and lower lips. In the production of a bilabial
sound, the lips come into contact with each other to form an effective constriction. In
English, /p,b,m/ are bilabial sounds.

 Labiodental: Labiodental sounds involve the lower lip (labial) and upper teeth (dental)
coming into contact with each other to form an effective constriction in the vocal tract.
Examples of labiodental sounds in English are /f,v/. Labiodental sounds can be divided
into two types.

a) Endolabial: sounds produced where the upper teeth are pressed against the inside of the lower
lip.

b) Exolabial: sounds produced where the upper teeth are pressed against the outer side of the
lower lip.

 Dental: Dental sounds involve the tongue tip (active articulator) making contact with the
upper teeth to form a constriction. Examples of Dental sounds in English are / θ, ð/.   If a
sound is produced where the tongue is between the upper and lower teeth, it is attributed
the term ‘interdental’.

 Alveolar: First of all, before I explain what an alveolar sound is, it’s useful to locate the
alveolar ridge itself. If you place your tongue just behind your teeth and move it around,
you’ll feel a bony sort of ridge. This is known as the alveolar ridge. Alveolar sounds
involve the front portion of the tongue making contact with the alveolar ridge to form an
effective constriction in the vocal tract. Examples of alveolar sounds in English are
/t,d,n,l,s/. 

 Postalveolar: Postalveolar sounds are made a little further back (‘post’) from the alveolar
ridge. A postalveolar sound is produced when the blade of the tongue comes into contact
with the post-alveolar region of your mouth. Examples of post-alveolar sounds in English
are /  ʃ, ʒ    /.

 Palatal: Palatal sounds are made with the tongue body (the big, fleshy part of your
tongue). The tongue body raises up towards the hard-palate in your mouth (the dome
shaped roof of your mouth) to form an effective constriction. An example of a palatal
sounds in English is /j/, usually spelt as <y>.

 Velar: Velar sounds are made when the back of the tongue (tongue dorsum) raises
towards the soft palate, which is located at the back of the roof of the mouth. This soft
palate is known as the velum. An effective constriction is then formed when these two
articulators come into contact with each other. Examples of velar sounds in English are
/k,g ŋ  /.
3) Manner

In simple terms, the manner of articulation refers to the way a sound is made, as opposed to
where it’s made. Sounds differ in the way they are produced. When the articulators are brought
towards each other, the flow of air differs according to the specific sound type. For instance, the
airflow can be completely blocked off or made turbulent.

 1) Stop articulations:

Stop articulations are sounds that involve a complete closure in the vocal tract. The closure is
formed when two articulators come together to prevent air escaping between them. Stop
articulations can be categorized according to the kind of airflow involved. The type of airflow
can be oral (plosives) or nasal (nasals). I will now talk about both plosives and nasals separately.

1a) Plosives: are sounds that are made with a complete closure in the oral (vocal) tract.  The
velum is raised during a plosive sound, which prevents air from escaping via the nasal cavity.
English plosives are the sounds /p,b,t,d,k,g/. Plosives can be held for quite a long time and are
thus also called ‘maintainable stops’.

1b) Nasals are similar to plosives in regards to being sounds that are made with a complete
closure in the oral (vocal) tract. However, the velum is lowered during nasal sounds, which
allows airflow to escape through the nasal cavity. There are 3 nasal sounds that occur in
English /m,n, ŋ/ 

2) Fricatives:

Fricative sounds are produced by narrowing the distance between the active and passive
articulators causing them to be in close approximation. This causes the airflow to become
turbulent when it passes between the two articulators involved in producing a fricative sound.
English fricatives are sounds such as / f,v, θ,ð, s,z, ʃ,ʒ     /

3) Approximants:

Approximant sounds are created by narrowing the distance between the two articulators.
Although, unlike fricatives, the distance isn’t wide enough to create turbulent airflow.  English
has 4 approximant sounds which are /w,j,r,l/.

 
Vowels

When it comes to vowels, we use a different specification to describe them. We look at the
vertical position of the tongue, the horizontal position of the tongue and lip position.

Vowels are made with a free passage of airflow down the mid-line of the vocal tract. They are
usually voiced and are produced without friction.

1) Vertical tongue position (close-open): vertical tongue position refers to how close the tongue
is to the roof of the mouth in the production of a vowel. If the tongue is close, it is given the label
close. However, if the tongue is low in the mouth when a vowel is produced, it’s given the label
open.  + close-mid/open mid (see below).

Some examples of open vowels: ɪ, ʊ

Some examples of close vowels: æ, ɒ, 

2) Horizontal tongue position (front, mid, back): Horizontal tongue refers to where the tongue is
positioned in the vocal tract in terms of ‘at the front’ or ‘at the back’ when a vowel is produced.
If the tongue is at the front of the mouth it’s given the label front, if the tongue is in the middle of
the mouth it’s given the label mid and if the tongue is at the back of the mouth it’s given the
label back.

Some examples of front vowels: ɪ , e, æ

Some examples of mid vowels: ə

Some examples of back vowels:  ʌ,ɒ

3) Lip position: As is inferred, lip position concerns the position of the lips when a vowel is
produced. The lips can either be round, spread or neutral.

Examples of round vowels: u, o

Examples of spread vowels: ɪ, ɛ

There are also different categories of vowels, for example: monophthongs and diphthongs.

Monophthongs: Monophthongs are vowels that are produced by a relatively stable tongue
position.

Monophthongs can be divided into two categories according to their duration. These are long and
short vowels and their duration is mirrored in their names.

Examples of short vowels: e, æ, ɪ, ʊ

Examples of long vowels: ɔ: ɜ:, i:, u:

Diphthongs: Diphthongs are vowels where the tongue moves from one part of the mouth to
another. They can be seen as starting of as one vowel and ending as a different vowel.

Here are some examples: /aʊ, ɪə, ɔɪ, əʊ/

Conclusion : When we are learning about those all above. We’ll know about the importance
thing of studying The anatomy and physiology speech of production, the organ of speech and
arthiculatory phonetics. But remember when we know about the material we have to practice
more and more. So we can take the advantage of learning it