The Organs of Speech

     THE ORGANS OF SPEECH:

The airstream mechanism is needed to produce speech sounds. And the most sounds in the languages of the world are produced with a pulmonic egressive airstream. When we breath out air from the lungs, various organs in the vocal tract control or modify the airstream to convert it into speech sounds these organs are called the vocal organs or the organs of speech. The vocal organs are used for the important tasks of breathing, eating and for production of speech sounds.

      The organs of speech can be divided into three groups. They are

The respiratory system consisting of the lungs, the muscles of the chest and the windpipe or trachea.

The phonatory system comprising the larynx in the throat.

The articulatory system consisting of the roof of the mouth, lips, teeth, tongue and nose.

The phonatory system:

    The airstream passes through the windpipe and larynx. The larynx consists of a pair of muscular bands or folds called the Vocal cords. The vocal cords are placed horizontally from front to back. The space between the vocal cords is called Glottis. The vocal cords can be opened and closed because they are attached in front and can be separated at the back.

      The sounds produced with a wide-open glottis are called Voiceless sounds. The first sounds in English word such as ‘pin’, ’thin’, ‘cat, ’chew’, ‘few’, ‘saw’, ‘hat’ etc., produces voiceless sounds. 

                             The sounds produced when the vocal cords vibrate are called voiced sounds.

   Eg: ‘bad’, ‘dead’, ‘jungle’, ‘vine’, ‘measure’, ‘nod’ etc.,

                             The rate of vibration called the frequency of vibration of the vocal cords determines whether the pitch of the voice is high or low

The articulatory system:

                                 The parts of the oral tract can be used to form sounds are called the Articulators. The articulators in the lower part of the mouth often move toward the those at the upper surface of the mouth. The lower articulators are therefore called the Active articulators.

                                    Behind the upper teeth there is a hard raised structure that can be felt with the tip of the tongue. This is called the Teeth ridge or alveolar ridge. The bony surface in the front part of the mouth behind the alveolar ridge s known as the Hard palate. Its hardness can be felt with the tip of the tongue or fingertip. The tongue, however, cannot be curled for enough to touch the Soft palate or velum, at the back of the mouth. The velum is a soft, muscular flap that flap that can be raised against the wall of the pharynx to close the nasal tract completely for producing nasal sounds. The lower end of the soft palate that hangs down midway between the oral tract and the nasal tract is known as the Uvula. The movement of the uvula serves to distinguish between oral and nasal sounds. The part of the vocal tracts between oral and nasal sounds. The part of the vocal tract between the uvula and the larynx is pharynx. The back wall of which functions as one of the articulators on the upper surface of the vocal tract.

https://youtu.be/Tj_sORtLBRg 

Organs of Speech