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5 Organ of Speech by Group 2
5 Organ of Speech by Group 2
ORGAN OF SPEECH
Lecturer:
Yani Lubis, M.Hum.
Arranged By:
GROUP 2
ARYA WIRANDA (0304213049)
NAJWA ALZUHDA (0304213096)
NOVI YANTI (0304213106)
DWI FATIMAH (0304213074)
FADLAH PUTRI SABILA (0304213037)
First of all, thanks to Allah SWT because of the help of Allah, writer finished writing the
paper entitled “Organ of speech” right in the calculated time. The purpose in writing this paper is
to fulfill the assignment that given by Mr. Yani Lubis,S.Ag,M.Hum as lecturer in basic
pronounciation. in arranging this paper, the writer trully get lots challenges and obstructions but
with help of many indiviuals, those obstructions could passed. writer also realized there are still
because of that, the writer says thank you to all individuals who helps in the process of
writing this paper. hopefully allah replies all helps and bless you all.the writer realized tha this
paper still imperfect in arrangment and the content. then the writer hope the criticism from the
readers can help the writer in perfecting the next paper.last but not the least Hopefully, this paper
can helps the readers to gain more knowledge about samantics major.
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Contents
PREFACE......................................................................................................................................................2
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Background......................................................................................................................................4
1.2 Fortmulate of the problem..............................................................................................................4
1.3 Aims of paper...................................................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 2
DISCUSSION.................................................................................................................................................5
2.1. What are the organs of speech.......................................................................................................5
2.3. The Eight Parts of Human Speech Organs & Their Definitions.....................................................12
CHAPTER 3
CLOSING....................................................................................................................................................20
3.1. conclusion......................................................................................................................................20
3.2. Suggestion......................................................................................................................................21
3.3. References......................................................................................................................................21
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
The various organs which are involved in the production of speech sounds are calledspeech
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 to lips, teeth, tongue, alveolar
ridge, hard palate, velum, uvula, glottis,
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CHAPTER 2
DISCUSSION
Speech organs produce the many sounds needed for language. Organs used include the lips,
teeth, tongue, alveolar ridge, hard palate, velum (soft palate), uvula and glottis. Speech
organs or articulators are of two types: passive articulators and active articulators. Passive
articulators remain static during the articulation of sound. Upper lips, teeth, alveolar ridge,
hard palate, soft palate, uvula, and pharynx wall are passive articulators. Active articulators
move relative to these passive articulators to produce various speech sounds, in different
manners. The most important active articulator is the tongue. The lower lip and glottis are
Articulators can be divided into two types : passive articulators and active articulators.
Passive articulators are organs that do not move during sound articulation such as the upper
lip, upper teeth and alveolum. The active artiulators moves into the passive articulators to
produce sounds. Main artiulators are tongue, uvula and lower jaw (lower teeth and lower lip).
The following are the organs of speech that make a sound, they are lips, teeth, tongue,
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2.2. The various of organ speech
The various organs of our mouth we use to produce speech sounds are called the organs of
speech. The organ speech or The field of articulatory phonetics is a subfield of phonetics that
studies articulation and ways that humans produce speech. Articulatory phoneticians explain
how humans produce speech sounds via the interaction of different physiological structures.
Speech organs or articulators, produce the sounds of languange, they are including the lips,
tongue , teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate, velum(soft palate), uvula, glottis and various parts
of speech, the can be divided into two types; passive articulators and active articulators.
The various organs which are involved in the production of speech sounds are called
speechorgans (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:
1. The Lungs
The airflow is by far the most vital requirement for producing speech sound, since all
speechsounds are made with some movement of air. The lungs provide the energy source for
theairflow. The lungs are the spongy respiratory organs situated inside the rib cage. They
expandand contract as we breathe in and out air. The amount of air accumulated inside our
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2. The Larynx & the Vocal Folds
The larynx is colloquially known as the voice box. It is a box-like small structure situated in
thefront 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 housesthe trachea and the vocal folds. The vocal folds are like a pair of
lips placed horizontally fromfront to back. They are joined in the front but can be separated
at the back. The openingbetween them is called glottis. The glottis is considered to be in open
state when the folds areapart, and when the folds are pressed together the glottis is considered
to be in close state.
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
isan audible friction. Such sounds are also voiceless since the vocal folds do not
Tightly Closed: The vocal folds can be firmly pressed together so that the air cannot
passbetween 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
theproduction of speech. The folds vibrate when these two are touching each other
ornearly touching. The pressure of the air coming from the lungs makes them vibrate.
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Thisvibration of the folds produces a musical note called voice. And sounds produced
in suchmanner 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 thelungs 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
3. The Articulators
Articulators transform the sound into intelligible speech. They can be either active or
passive.They include the pharynx, the teeth, the alveolar ridge behind them, the hard palate,
the softervelum behind it, the lips, the tongue, and the nose and its cavity. Traditionally the
articulatorsare studied with the help of a sliced human head figure like the following:
The Pharynx: The pharynx lies between the mouth and the food passage, that is,
justabove the larynx. It is just about 7cm long in the case of women and 8cm long in
thecase of men.
The Roof of the Mouth: The roof of the mouth is considered as a major speech organ.
1) The Alveolar Ridge/Teeth Ridge: The alveolar ridge is situated immediately after
theupper front teeth. The sounds which are produced touching this convex part are
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calledalveolar sounds. Some alveolar sounds in English include: /t/d/.
2) The Hard Palate: The hard palate is the concave part of the roof of the mouth. It
3) The Velum or Soft Palate: The lower part of the roof of the mouth is called soft palate.It
could be lowered or raised. When it is lowered, the air stream from the lungs hasaccess to
the nasal cavity. When it is raised the passage to the nasal cavity is blocked.The sounds
which are produced touching this area with the back of the tongue arecalled velarsounds.
The Lips: The lips also play an important role in the matter of articulation. They can
bepressed together or brought into contact with the teeth. The consonant sounds
whichare articulated by touching two lips each other are called bilabial sounds. For
example,/p/ and /b/ are bilabial sounds in English. Whereas, the sounds which are
In English there are two labiodentalsounds: /f/ and /v/. Another important thing about
the lips is that they can takedifferent shapes and positions. Therefore, lip-rounding is
considered as a major criterionfor describing vowel sounds. The lips may have the
following positions:
1) Rounded: When we pronounce a vowel, our lips can be rounded, a position where
thecorners of the lips are brought towards each other and the lips are pushed
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forwards.And the resulting vowel from this position is a rounded one. For example, /əʊ/.
2) Spread: The lips can be spread. In this position the lips are moved away from each
other(i.e. when we smile). The vowel that we articulate from this position is an
unroundedone. For example, in English /i: /is a long vowel with slightly spread lips.
3) Neutral: Again, the lips can be neutral, a position where the lips are not
noticeablyrounded or spread. And the articulated vowel from this position is referred to
asunrounded vowel. For example, in English /ɑ: / is a long vowel with neutral lips.
The Teeth: The teeth are also very much helpful in producing various speech
sounds.The sounds which are made with the tongue touching the teeth are called
The Tongue: The tongue is responsible for the production of many speech sounds,
sinceit can move very fast to different places and is also capable of assuming
differentshapes. The shape and the position of the tongue are especially crucial for
theproduction of vowel sounds. Thus when we describe the vowel sounds in the
context ofthe function of the tongue, we generally consider the following criteria:
1) Tongue Height: It is concerned with the vertical distance between the upper surface ofthe
tongue and the hard palate. From this perspective the vowels can be described asclose
and open. For instance, because of the different distance between the surface ofthe tongue
and the roof of the mouth, the vowel /i: /has to be described as a relativelyclose vowel,
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2) Tongue Frontness / Backness: It is concerned with the part of tongue between the
frontand the back, which is raised high. From this point of view the vowel sounds can
beclassified as front vowels and back vowels. By changing the shape of the tongue we
canproduce vowels in which a different part of the tongue is the highest point. That
means,a vowel having the back of the tongue as the highest point is a back vowel,
whereas theone having the front of the tongue as the highest point is called a front vowel.
Forexample: during the articulation of the vowel / u: / the back of the tongue is raised
high,
so it’s a back vowel. On the other hand, during the articulation of the vowel / æ / the
The Jaws: Some phoneticians consider the jaws as articulators, since we move the
lower jaw a lot at the time of speaking. But it should be noted that the jaws are
notarticulators in the same way as the others. The main reason is that they are
The Nose and the Nasal Cavity: The nose and its cavity may also be considered
asspeech organs. The sounds which are produced with the nose are called nasal
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2.3. The Eight Parts of Human Speech Organs & Their Definitions
produce the many sounds needed for language. Organsused include the lips, teeth, tongue,
alveolar ridge, hard palate, velum(softpalate), uvula and glottis. Human speech is one of our
species' defining qualities. In order to make thisspeech, eight different organs must work
together.
1. Lips
The lips play a major role in vowel articulation. It is generally believed that two major
variables are in effect: lip-rounding (or labialization), and lip protrusion, in phonetics,
vowel roundedness refers to the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of
sounds in some languages. Labialized sounds involve the lips while the remainder of the
oral cavity produces another sound. The term is normally restricted to consonants. When
vowels involve the lips, they are called rounded. When a rounded vowel is pronounced,
the lips form a circular opening, and unrounded vowels are pronounced with the lips
relaxed. In most languages, front vowels tend to be unrounded, and back vowels tend to
be rounded.
There are two lips serve for creating different sounds, the are; labial and bilabial. The
term labial originates from Labium (Latin for "lip"), and is the adjective that describes
consonants.
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Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator.
The two common labial articulations are bilabials, articulated using both lips, and
labiodentals, articulated with the lower lip against the upper teeth, both of which are
with both lips, The extensions to the IPA also define a bilabial percussive for striking the
lips together.
2. Tongue
The word "language" derives from the Latin lingua, "tongue". Phoneticians agree that
the tongue is the most important speech articulator, followed by the lips. A natural
language can be viewed as a particular way of using the tongue to express thought. The
tongue is a highly flexible organ that is capable of being moved in many different ways.
For vowel articulation the principal variations are vowel height and the dimension of
backness and frontness. A less common variation in vowel quality can be produced by a
change in the shape of the front of the tongue, resulting in a rhotic or rhotacized vowel.
The tongue is the most important articulator in speech organs, it moves in different
ways in different shapes to produce speech sounds. Tongue is divided into five parts, they
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3. Alveolar ridge
The alveolar ridge also known as the alveolar margin) is one of the two jaw ridges,
extensions of the mandible or maxilla, either on the roof of the mouth between the upper
teeth and the hard palate or on the bottom of the mouth behind the lower teeth. Most of
the roof of one's mouth is the hard palate and the soft palate. The alveolar ridges contain
the sockets of the teeth. They can be felt with the tongue in the area right above the top
teeth or below the bottom teeth. Its surface is covered with little ridges.The [upper]
alveolar ridge is a small protuberance just behind the upper front teeth that can easily be
The alveolar ridge includes the area between the upper front teeth and the hard palate. To
4. Hard palate
The hard palate is a thin horizontal bony plate made up of two bones of the facial
skeleton, located in the roof of the mouth. The bones are the palatine process of the
maxilla and the horizontal plate of palatine bone. The hard palate spans the alveolar arch
formed by the alveolar process that holds the upper teeth (when these are developed).
The hard palate is important for feeding and speech. Mammals with a defective hard
palate may die shortly after birth due to inability to suckle. It is also involved in
mastication in many species. The interaction between the tongue and the hard palate is
essential in the formation of certain speech sounds, notably high-front vowels, palatal
consonants, and retroflex consonants such as [i] like "see", [j] like "yes", [ç] (realization
of /hj/ in English) like "hue", and [ɻ] (/r/, only for some speakers) like "red".
In conclusion, hard palate is a thin horizontal bony palate of the skull, lacated in the
roof of the mouth. The interaction between the tongue and the hard palate is essential in
The soft palate (also called the velum, palatal velum, or muscular palate) is, in
mammals, the soft tissue constituting the lower back of the roof of the mouth. The soft
palate is a part of the palate of the mouth; the other part is the difficult palate. The soft
palate is distinguished from the hard palate on the front of the mouth in that it does now
membrane. it is responsible for ultimate off the nasal passages at some stage in the act of
swallowing, and also for last off the airway. at some stage in sneezing, it protects the
nasal passage via diverting a part of the excreted substance to the mouth.
The sof palate need to have holes forming that funtion throughout speech to separate
the oral cavity (mouth) from the nostril, with a purpose to produce the oral speech
sounds.
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6. Pharynx
The pharynx is the part of the throat at the back of the mouth and nasal hollow space,
and above the oesophagus and trachea (the tubes going down to the stomach and the
lungs). it's miles determined in vertebrates and invertebrates, even though its structure
varies across species. The pharynx carries meals and air to the esophagus and larynx
respectively. The flap of cartilage called the epiglottis stops meals from getting into the
larynx.
the pharynx is like a tube starting simply above the larynx and finishing parts, the
7. Uvula
The palatine uvula, generally referred to as virtually the uvula, is a conic projection
from the lower back edge of the middle of the smooth palate, composed of connective
tissue containing some of racemose glands, and some muscular fibers. It also includes
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It has a function in speech as well. in lots of languages, the uvula is used to articulate
more than a few consonant sounds, called uvular consonants. The voiced uvular trill,
written [ʀ] within the international Phonetic Alphabet, is one instance; it's far used in
French, Arabic and Hebrew, amongst other languages. due to the huge quantity of saliva
made from glands in the uvula which are absent in other mammals, it has been counseled
It funtions in tandem with the back of the throat, the palate, and air coming up fom
the lungs to create a number of guttural and other sounds. In many languanges , it closes
to prevent air escaping through the nose when making some sounds.
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8. Glottis
The glottis is the opening between the vocal folds located within the larynx. Its role
addition, the pitch of the vowel is modified by changing the frequency of vibration of the
vocal folds. In some languages there are contrasts among vowels with extraordinary
phonation kinds.
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CHAPTER III
CLOSING
3.1. Conclusion
Organs of Speech
Organs of Speech;
• All the organs involved have other primary physiological functions primary
physiological functions
• Almost all speech can be regarded as amodified form of exhalation-the air modified
form of exhalation-the air expelled by the lungs subjected toexpelled by the lungs
subjected to some kind of obstruction or interruptionsome kind of obstruction or
SpeechSoundsSounds
• source of energy
• vibrating body
• A resonator
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3.2. Suggestion
Similarly, we can describe the material that is the subject of this proposal, of course, there
are still many shortcomings and weaknesses, because they lack the knowledge and the lack
of reference or the reference has to do with the title of this proposal. Author much hope dear
readers, providing constructive criticism and suggestions for the perfect proposal to the
Hopefully this paper is useful for writers in particular are also dear readers in general.
Such review this time, may be useful for you and also inspire.
3.3. References
Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. 3rd ed. England: Longman-
Yule, George. The Study of Language. 2nd ed. Cambridge: CUP, 1996. 40-50.
Varshney, Dr. R.L. An Introduction of Linguistics & Phonetics. Dhaka: BOC, n.d. 38-42
https://psychology.wikia.org/wiki/Psychology_Wiki
https://www.kompasiana.com/aisyahamalia2751/5d92c406097f36715a721252/speech-
organs-and-how-they-produced-sounds?page=all
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