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Organs of speech, Airstream Mechanism

A. nasal and oral cavities, articulators: lips, teeth, tongue, alveolar ridge, hard palate,
soft palate (velum), uvula, pharyng, pulmonic, egressive/ingressive, click

Speech is produced by the speech organs, where airstream causes the vocal folds to
vibrate (this applies to the egressive airstream mechanism). The created sound then
moves through the articulatory system, attaining its final form – one of the sounds used
in the language of the speaker. This text is an overview of what happens with air on its
way out of the vocal tract.

The air from the lungs enters the larynx, a structure that consists of several cartilages:
the thyroid, cricoid and arytenoid (Ogden, Introduction 40). The larynx is about 11 cm
long and has 2.5 cm in diameter (Clark 30). The angle that is formed by the sides of the
thyroid cartilage is 90° in males and 120° in females (30). This physical difference
influences the voice quality intrinsically (but, the quality can be culturally influenced as
well

The epiglottis, a leaf-shaped cartilage that closes the airways during swallowing, thus
protecting sensitive tissue, is located above the larynx. The larynx houses vocal folds,
“typically about 17 to 22 mm long in males and about 11 to 16 mm long in females”
(32). The cartilage structure that surrounds the vocal folds and the vocal folds
themselves form the glottis, a “laryngeal valve aperture” (32).

Above the epiglottis is the pharynx, a muscular passage that connects the oral cavity, the
larynx and the velum. The pharynx is passively involved in speech (42), because it
modifies the size of the space between the oral cavity and the larynx. The velum, a soft
tissue, is placed above the pharynx. It directs the airflow in speech: if raised it closes the
velopharyngeal port, an opening to the nasal cavity [2] (46).

The oral cavity is a space in vocal tracts where humans can exert the greatest control of
its size and shape (O’Connor, Phonetics 34), which makes it critical for “determining the
phonetic qualities of speech sounds” (Clark, Introduction, 47). The oral cavity is a space
between the lips (anteriorly [3]), the palotaglossus muscle (posteriorly), the tongue
(inferiorly) and the roof of the mouth (superiorly) (47). The lips, the tongue and the
angle of the mandible have an important role in speech sound production, although not
of equal importance (for example, it is possible to make a distinctive sound with the
mandible fixed) (47). Considering the complex muscular and neural structure of the
mobile parts that surround the oral cavity it is no surprise, then, “that the
characteristics of vowels depend on the shape of the open passage above the larynx”
(Jones, Outline 29). Of course, this refers not only to vowels, but to all speech sounds;
what makes vowels interesting, however, is the lack of any closure in the passages, so
their quality is conditioned by the shape of the passages, or “inherent properties of the
cavities” (Crystal 27).
When the tongue is moved backwards or forwards, the space in the pharyngeal region
changes, and with the movement upwards and downwards (usually followed by
mandible movement) the space defined by the hard palate and tongue changes in
volume and shape (Stevens 22). According to Johnson the volume [4] of the vocal tract
in males is about 170 cm3 and 130 cm3 in females; when the mandible is lowered for
about 1 cm (average in speech), the volume increases to 190 cm 3 and 150 cm3,
respectively (24). Citing Goldstine, Johnson gives 41.1 cm as an average vocal tract
length in adult females, 6.3 cm for pharynx length and 7.8 cm for the oral cavity length.
In males, the values are 16.9 cm, 8.9 cm and 8.1 cm, respectively (25). This shows that
the oral cavity in both sexes is almost of the same length, while differences are reflected
in the length of the pharyngeal region (25).

The physiology of the vocal tract links anatomy with phonetics. It describes, in terms of
mechanics, properties and dimensions of the environment where speech sounds are
created.

[1] “There are cultural effects too: in English-speaking cultures, it is common for males
to enhance their intrinsically lower f0 by lowering their larynx, and for females to
enhance their intrinsically higher f0.” (Ogden, Introduction 46)

[2] The velopharyngeal port is very important in discussing nasal sounds, where the air
stream has a complex path that includes several cavities and an intricate physical
model.

[3] Anterior/posterior – in anatomy, the axis from head to the opposite end of body.

[4] The values refer to the measurements when the vocal tract is in the neutral
configuration.
The production of speech sounds

Articulators above the larynx

All the sounds we make when we speak are the result of muscles contracting. The
muscles in the chest that we use 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 what we call 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.

Fig. 1 is a diagram that is used frequently in the study of phonetics. It represents

the human head, seen from the side, displayed as though it had been cut in half. You will
need to look at it carefully as the articulators are described, and you will often find it
useful to have a mirror and a good light placed so that you can look at the inside of your
mouth.

Fig. 1 The articulators

i) 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.

ii) The velum or soft palate is seen in the diagram in a position that allows air to
pass through the nose and through the mouth. Yours is probably in that position
now, but often in speech it is raised so that air cannot escape through the nose.
The other important thing about the velum is that it is one of the articulators that
can be touched by the tongue. When we make the sounds k and g the tongue is
in contact with the lower side of the velum, and we call these velar consonants.

iii) The hard palate is often called the "roof of the mouth". You can feel its
smooth curved surface with your tongue.

iv) The alveolar ridge is between the top front teeth and the hard palate. You
can feel its shape with your tongue. Its surface is really much rougher than it
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.

v) The tongue is, of course, a very important articulator and it can be moved into
many different places and different shapes. It is usual to divide the tongue into
different parts, though there are no clear dividing lines within the tongue. Fig. 2
shows the tongue on a larger scale with these parts shown: tip, blade, front,
back and root. (This use of the word "front" often seems rather strange at first.)

Fig. 2 Sub-divisions of the tongue

vi) The teeth (upper and lower) are usually shown in diagrams like Fig. 1 only at
the front of the mouth, immediately behind the lips. This is for the sake of a
simple diagram, and you should remember that most speakers have teeth to the
sides of their mouths, back almost to the soft palate. The tongue is in contact
 with the upper side teeth for many speech sounds. Sounds made with the tongue
touching the front teeth are called dental.

vii) 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 uù. Sounds in which the lips are
in contact with each other are called bilabial, while those with lip-to-teeth
contact are called labiodental.

The seven articulators described above are the main ones used in speech, but there are
three other things to remember. Firstly, the larynx could also be described as an
articulator - a very complex and independent one. Secondly, the jaws are sometimes
called articulators; certainly we move the lower jaw a lot in speaking. But the jaws are
not articulators in the same way as the others, because they cannot themselves make
contact with other articulators. Finally, although there is practically nothing that we can
do with the nose and the nasal cavity, they are a very important part of our equipment
for making sounds (what is sometimes called our vocal apparatus), particularly nasal
consonants such as m , n . Again, we cannot really describe the nose and the nasal cavity
as articulators in the same sense as (i) to (vii) above.

Moving on along the vocal tract

The pharynx doesn’t play an active part in the articulation of sounds, its main role
being to link the larynx and the rest of the lower respiratory system to its upper part,
thus functioning as an air passage during breathing. It is also an important segment in
the digestive apparatus as it plays an essential role in deglutition (the swallowing of
food).

The pharynx branches into two cavities that act as resonators for the airstream that
makes the vocal cords vibrate: the nasal cavity and the oral cavity. Before discussing
the two respective cavities, it is important to mention the role played during
articulation by the velum or the soft palate.

The velum is the continuation of the roof of the mouth also called the palate. The
harder, bony structure situated towards the exterior of the mouth continues with the
velum into the rear part of the mouth. The latter’s position at the back of the mouth can
allow the airstream to go out through either the mouth or the nose or through both at
the same time. Thus, if the velum is raised, blocking the nasal cavity, the air is directed
out through the mouth and the sounds thus produced will be oral sounds. If the velum
is lowered, we can articulate either nasal sounds, if the air is expelled exclusively via
the nasal cavity, or nasalized sounds if, in spite of the lowered position of the velum,
the air is still allowed to go out through the mouth as well as through the nose. If we nip
our nostrils or if the nasal cavity is blocked because of a cold, hay fever, etc, we can
easily notice the importance of the nasal cavity as a resonator and the way in which its
blocking affects normal speech production.

The distinction nasal/oral is essential in all languages and it will further be discussed
when a detailed analysis of both English consonants and vowels is given in the next
chapters. We have mentioned above the oral cavity as one of the two possible outlets for
the airstream that is expelled by our respiratory system. The oral cavity plays an
essential role in phonation as it is here that the main features of the sounds that we
articulate are uttered. The cavity itself acts as a resonator, and we can modify its shape
and volume, thus modifying the acoustic features of the sounds we produce, while
various organs that delimit the oral cavity or are included in it (the tongue) are active or
passive participants in the act of phonation.

If we follow the airstream out through the mouth (oral cavity) we can easily notice the
above-mentioned organs that play an important role in the process of sound
articulation. Undoubtedly, the most important of all is the tongue, which plays a crucial
role in oral communication, the very fact that in many languages (Greek, Latin, Romance
languages) the same word is used to refer to both the anatomical organ and language as
a fundamental human activity showing that in many cultures the two concepts came to
be assimilated or at least considered to be inseparable. The tongue is actually involved
in the articulation of most speech sounds, either through an active or a comparatively
more passive participation. It is a muscular, extremely mobile and versatile organ (by
far the most dynamic of all speech organs) and it plays an essential role in the producing
of consonants, while its position in the mouth is also very important for differentiating
among various classes of vowels.

The tongue can be “divided” into several parts: a) its fore part, made up of the tip (apex)
and the blade; b) the front, and back part (the dorsum) – the label dorsum is often
applied to front and back together – and c) the root (radix) of the tongue (the rearmost
and lowest part of the organ, situated in front of the laryngo-pharynx and the epiglottis.
The sides or rims of the tongue also play an important role in the uttering of certain
sounds.

(As we are going to see in a subsequent chapter, the various parts of the tongue lend
their names to the sounds they help produce: thus, sounds uttered with the
participation of the tip of the tongue will be called apical – from the Latin word apex,
meaning top or extremity – those in the production of which the blade is involved will
be called laminal – from the Latin word lamina having the same meaning – while the
back part of the body of the tongue, the dorsum, will give its name to dorsal sounds,
produced in the velar region.) The tongue is a mobile articulator that influences the way
in which sounds are produced. But more often than not it does that with the help of
other articulators (fixed or mobile i.e. passive or active) as well, like the roof of the
mouth (the palate), the lips or the teeth. The palate essentially consists of two parts:
the hard palate and the soft palate or the velum. We have shown the important role
played by the velum in differentiating between the articulation of oral and nasal sounds.
The hard palate in front of it functions as a fixed (passive) articulator.

Not less important are, at the other end of the mouth, the teeth and the lips. Just behind
the teeth we can notice the alveolar ridge (the ridge of the gums of the upper teeth).
While the upper teeth are fixed, the lower jaw (the mandible) is mobile and its constant
moving continuously modifies the size and shape of the oral aperture. The lips also play
an important role in the articulation of some consonants by interacting with each other
or with the upper teeth and their position (rounded or spread) is also relevant for
differentiating between two major classes of vowels. They are pretty mobile
articulators, though far less so than the tongue. Just like the tongue, they can yield a
variety of configurations. The lower lip can “cooperate” with the upper teeth to produce
labio-dental sounds, the two lips can interact to articulate bilabial sounds, while lip
position (rounded or spread) is essential in determining one of the basic configurations
of vowels.