Speech mechanism

As we know human beings are distinguished from other living beings largely in their ability to produce speech sounds .

Of course ,other living being have their own means of communication. For example Bees ,have a highly organized communication system .But human being alone posses a kind of Speech mechanism that distinguish them from all other living beings.

Vocal Tract in human speech mechanism is the most striking feature it is unique among mammals .

The human speech mechanism unique lies in the three system that are followed in the production of speech sounds of these are :

Mechanism of Speech And Articulatory System.

1) The respiratory system ,

2)The phonatory system,

3)The articulatory system .

(1) The Respiratory System

respiratory system

The respiratory system consists of the Lungs along with the muscles of the chest and the wind pipe known as the Trachea .

(A) Lungs : The lungs can be described as large sponges that are alternately filled with air and emptied of it .

The process of air filling the lungs is called inspiration and the emptying of it is called Expiration .

It is the respiratory lung air ,the air that we breathe out ,that is the basic for the articulation of most speech sounds . The air stream is known as the pulmonic eggressive air stream mechanism.

Read Language features and uses here

(B) Muscles of the chest :

The muscles of the chest initiate the process of production of speech sounds.The muscle chest exert pressure on the lungs to release the stream of air . The process of the air flowing into the lungs and being expelled from the lungs is controlled by the muscles of the chest.

(C) Trachea :

The trachea is the passage for the flow of air from the mouth to the oral and nasal passages for the production of speech sounds . The trachea thus contributes towards the pulmonic eggressive air stream mechanism .Read English basic sentence structure

(2)The Phonatory System

Phonatory system

The air stream released by the lungs undergoes different kinds of modification at different stages of the vocal organ. The first of these modifications takes place in the Trachea. The trachea is the wind pipe in the upper part of which there is a structure called the larynx .

(A) The Larynx :

Mechanism of speech , Articulatory system,

Larynx

The larynx can be described as a fairly rigid box made up of cartilages , or layers of muscles situated at the top of the Trachea.

In the larynx there are two vocal cords that resembles a pair of lips horizontally from front to back. They are joined in the front but can be separated at the back and the opening between them is called the glottis .

The glottis plays an important part in the production of two different types of sounds known as

(a) voiceless sound , (b) voiced sounds.

(a) voiceless sound :

voiceless sounds refer to those speech sounds that are produced with the glottis being open

Glottis being open
(Voiceless sounds)

(b) voiced sounds : voiced sounds refer to those speech sounds that are produced with the vocal cords held loosely .

vocal cord held loosely together
(Voiced Sounds)

(3) Articulatory system :

Articulatory system

After passing through the larynx ,the air stream is further modified by the various shapes assumed by the vocal organs before it is released into the atmosphere .these modifications by different vocal organs affect the quality of the sounds produced .Read more for Articulatory System

Mechanism of speech

These organs of speech constitute the Articulatory system .

(a) Tongue : the tongue plays a very dominant role in the production of speech sounds .in a position of rest , the front of the tongue lies opposite the soft palate .

The front of the tongue is divided into the following parts .

• Blade of the tongue : the part which normally lies opposite the teeth ridge .

• Tip of the tongue : the front edge of the tongue

• the edge of the tongue , also called rime - the sides.

(b) The lower jaw :

the lower jaw is an important speech organ because of its ability to alter the shape of the mouth by its upwards and downwards movement,the alterations has a striking effects on the sounds produced

Vowels described as close , half close , half-open , and open which are actually distinguished by the position of the lower jaw.

(c) Lips :

the lips affect the shape of the mouth through which the breath has to pass to the outer air . the lips can be tightly shut or can be made to assume different shape while producing different speech sounds.

(d) The hard palate :

the hard palate is the arched bony structure which forms the front part of the roof of the mouth from behind the Alveolar ridge Upto the area known as the soft palate or velum.

(e) Soft palate :

The soft palate is the mobile fleshly continuation of the roof of the mouth culmination in the uvula . The soft palate is particularly important in the production of a number of sounds .Read what is dipthong types and illustrations