ORGANS OF

SPEECH

Presentation by:

Dr Bulbul Gupta

Department of English

M.A. Semester III

Paper IX – English Linguistics and Phonetics

ORGANS OF SPEECH

Oral CavityThe oral cavity is defined anteriorly by the lips, posteriorly by the arch-shaped entry formed by palatoglossus muscle, inferiorly by the tongue, superiorly by the roof of the mouth, and laterally by the teeth and associated bone structure in the jaws.

The roof of the mouth can be divided into the following parts beginning from the lips at the front of the mouth to the pharynx at the back of the mouth:

The upper lip

The front teeth

Just behind the upper teeth is the teeth ridge or alveolar ridge

The bony arch of the roof of the mouth that lies just behind the teeth ridge is known as the hard palate

The hard palate ends approximately level with the rearmost molars and the partition between the nasal cavity and oral cavity is continued by the soft palate or velum

A fleshy pendant-like structure at the end of soft palate known as uvula

Oral Cavity (Continued…)

Oral cavity plays a significant role in

determining the phonetic qualities of

speech sounds. The shape and volume of

the oral cavity depends on the shaping and

positioning of the tongue, moving of the lips,

jaw and soft palate.

ORAL CAVITY

LARYNX Is around 11 cm long and 2.5 cm in diameter.

Has a skeletal frame which is formed by a series of cartilages, and is connected to the lungs by the windpipe or Trachea.

More protruded in case of males and is felt as the ‘Adam’s Apple’. The cartilages inside the larynx move with respect to each other in such a way that they help in producing speech and in the valvingaction of the larynx.

The Cricoid Cartilage and Thyroid Cartilage form the major part of the cartilaginous laryngeous structure. The other important cartilages in the larynx are the small pair of Arytenoids that is located on the upper posterior lateral part of the cricoid cartilage. The movement of the Arytenoids controls the positioning of the attached vocal folds.

The cartilage that is hinged to the upper anterior part of the thyroid cartilage is known as the epiglottis. The main function of epiglottis is to prevent the entry of food particles from entering the wind pipe during swallowing.

LARYNX

PHARYNX It is around 12 cm long tube that lies between the glottis and the

base of the skull. “It makes a passive contribution to speech production by forming part of the length of the supraglottal vocal tract but its geometry and volume can also be adjusted to vary this contribution or for other articulatory effects.”

Pharynx can be divided into the following three functional areas:

❑ Laryngo-Pharynx is the lowest section of pharynx. It is bounded inferiorly by the glottis and superiorly by the hyoid bone;

❑ Naso-Pharynx is the upper section of the pharynx. It is bounded inferiorly by the soft palate and extends to the nasal passage.

❑ The middle section is the Oro-Pharynx which is bounded inferiorly by the hyoid bone and superiorly by the soft palate.

PHARYNX

SOFT PALATE/VELUM “The soft palate or Velum is a continuation of the roof of

the mouth, posterior to the bony structure of the hard palate. It consists of a flexible sheet of muscular tissue covered in mucous membrane ending at the Uvula, a small tip of muscle and flexible tissue.”

Velum can be in a raised position or lowered that helps in production of various sounds. When the velum is raised and touches the back wall of the pharynx (called velic closure), it shuts the passage of air into the nasal cavity and only oral sounds are produced such as /p/, /k/, /f/, /t/, etc. Except the nasal consonants, all the English sounds are oral sounds.

When the velum is lowered, it closes the oral cavity and the air coming from the lungs escapes to the nasal cavity thereby producing nasal sounds such as /m/, /n/.

In normal breathing, the soft palate is lowered but to a height that both the oral cavity and the nasal cavity remains open. Thus, the air passes through both oral cavity and the nasal cavity. Sounds produced in this position of the soft palate are called nasalized sounds.

POSITIONS OF VELUM

TONGUE The tongue lies in the oral cavity and consists largely of

muscle, with an outer covering of mucous membrane and a fibrous septum dividing it longitudinally. It is anchored anteriorly by some of its extrinsic muscles to the hyoid bone. Among all the organs of speech situated within the oral cavity, the tongue makes the greatest contribution to changes in the shape and volume of the oral cavity.

For purposes of phonetic description, the tongue is usually divided into four areas or parts namely, the tip, the blade, the front, the back, and the root. The tip of tongue is its extreme point with the blade of tongue lying just behind it. The front part of the tongue lies opposite the hard palate when the tongue is in position of rest. The back of the tongue lies opposite the soft palate when the tongue is at rest. The root of the tongue lies opposite the back wall of pharynx.

PARTS OF TONGUE

LIPS The upper lip and lower lip are two fleshy folds that are

richly supplied with muscles. They are formed externally of skin, and are internally made of mucous membrane. Due to the muscles, the lips show considerable plasticity and mobility and thus contribute significantly to a range of vocal tract configurations possible in the articulation of speech.

The lips are the anterior termination of the oral cavity and also of the entire vocal tract. The lips can assume various positions such as they can be raised and lowered, rounded or protruded, and there can be vertical or lateral movement of the corners of the mouth. For instance, in case of consonants /p/ and /b/, the lips are closed and held together; in case of vowel /i:/, the lips are in a spread position; in case of vowel /ʊ/, the lips are round and protruded; in case of vowel /ə/, the lips remain in neutral position, and so on.

NASAL CAVITY The naso-pharynx leads into the nasal cavity

which is around 10 cm long extending from the pharynx to nostrils. The nasal cavity lacks a muscular structure. Thus it is the external factors such as the content of mucous and swelling of the tissues that affect the size and shape of the nasal cavity. These involuntary variations in the volume and geometry of the nasal cavity affect its resonant properties and its contribution to acoustic and perceptual characteristics of speech. Voluntary variations in nasal cavity can take place due to the muscular tensions that affect the nature of nasopharyngeal coupling to the oropharyngeal part of the vocal tract.

NASAL CAVITY

SummaryOrgans of speech:

✓ Oral Cavity

✓ Larynx

✓ Pharynx

✓ Soft Palate/Velum

✓ Tongue

✓ Lips

✓ Nasal Cavity

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References:

Ladefoged, Peter, and Keith Johnson. A Course in Phonetics. United Kingdom: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011

Roach, Peter. English Phonetics and Phonology: A Practical Course. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009

Sethi, J., and P.V. Dhamija. A Course in Phonetics and Spoken English. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India Private Limited, 2006