Articulatory System of the English language 1 The

Articulatory System of the English language 1. The vocal tract. Structure. Vocal cords (folds). Voiced and voiceless sounds. 2. The palate. The teeth. The tongue 3. Other parts of the vocal tract

Keywords: nasal cavity, oral cavity, pharynx, vocal cords, palate, teeth, tongue, alveolar ridge, velum, uvula, epiglottis, larynx, wind-pipe, glottis

What word in English begins with a T, ends in a T and is full of T?

The field of articulatory phonetics is a subfield of phonetics. In studying articulation, phoneticians explain how humans produce speech sounds via the interaction of different physiological structures.

In all languages we speak with air from the lungs. We draw it into the lungs quickly and we release it slowly and then interfere with its passage in various ways and at various places.

In order to produce speech sounds, the flow of pulmonary air in the vocal tract must somehow be modified. These modifications are of four main types:

(1) complete blockage followed by sudden release, (2) complete blockage followed by gradual release, (3) constriction or narrowing, (4) no blockage at all

In fact, these modification types have been used in traditional phonetics as the criteria for the classification of speech sounds.

These modifications are technically referred to as manner of articulation.

These modifications do not occur at one single part of the vocal tract. Rather, they may happen at any part of the super-glottal (from the glottis upwards) section of the vocal tract.

These places (sometimes called articulators) include the lips, the teeth, the alveolar ridge, the palate, the velum, and the glottis.

Place of articulation is the technical term which is used to refer to the places along the vocal tract at which air modifications take place.

In addition to place and manner of articulation, speech sounds can be voiced or unvoiced (voiceless) depending on whether the vocal cords are set into vibration. This phenomenon is called voicing.

There are three main chambers within the vocal tract: 1. the pharynx (or the throat), 2. The nasal cavity (above the mouth) and 3. The oral cavity.

The pharynx is a vertical tube that connects the larynx with the oral cavity. It is responsible for non-speech activities, swallowing, coughing, and singing.

It contributes to voice quality. It plays a minor role in production of speech.

The nasal cavity lies above the mouth. Three nasal consonants are created by opening this cavity to the airstream and closing off the oral cavity (m, n, ŋ).

The nasal cavity is important in speech creating these consonants by the coordinated action of the soft palate and the tongue.

The oral cavity is the most important structure in the vocal tract. It consists of one fixed part and three movable parts.

The fixed elements are the teeth. They play a generally passive role in creation of sounds.

The three movable parts include the jaw, the lips and the tongue.

The soft palate is sometimes considered part of the mouth and this way becomes the forth movable part.

Vocal cords

The larynx contains two small bands of elastic tissue which can be thought of as two flat strips of rubber, lying opposite each other across the air passage.

These are the vocal cords.

The inner edges of the vocal cords can be moved towards each other so that they meet and completely cover the top of the wind-pipe, or they can be drawn apart so that there is a gap between them (known as the glottis) through which the air can pass freely: this is their usual position when we breathe quietly in and out.

Some of English sounds have voice, and some do not. The sounds which are not voiced voiceless sounds – are made with the vocal cords drawn apart so that the air can pass out freely between them and there is no vibration

The difference between voiced and voiceless can be seen when we pronounce the sound s and then z.

The Palate

The Palate forms the roof of your mouth and separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity.

The palate has a hard part and a soft part in the back of the oral cavity. We can see the soft part of the palate if we pronounce the letter a long.

The hard palate is stiff, but the soft part can move.

The teeth. The lower front teeth are not important in speech except that when they are missing (the sounds s and z will be difficult to pronounce). But the two upper teeth are used in articulation of the sounds / θ / and / ð /

The tongue. It is a very complex and elegant mechanism. It is perhaps the single most flexible set of muscles in the human body because it can change its position and shape.

It is the most important organ of speech because it has the greatest varieties of movements. Although it is no natural divisions like the palate, it is divided by phoneticians into four parts: tip, blade, front, back or (tip, front, back, root).

The back (root) of the tongue lies under the soft palate when the tongue is at rest, the front (back) lies under the hard palate, the tip and the blade (the tip and the front) lie under the alveolar ridge.

The lips. Lips can take various positions in articulating most of the sounds.

alveolar ridge Alveolar ridge lies at a short distance behind the upper teeth where there is a change in the angle of the roof of the mouth. Sounds which involve the area between the upper teeth and this ridge are called alveolars.

Uvula the small, dangly thing at the back of the soft palate. The uvula vibrates during the r sound in many French dialects.

Epiglottis is a fold of tissue below the root of the tongue. It helps cover the larynx during swallowing, making sure that food goes into the stomach and not in the lungs. A few languages use the epiglottis in making sounds. English is fortunately not one of them.

Glottis is the opening between the vocal cords.

Larynx the structure that holds and manipulates the vocal cords. The "Adam's apple" in males is the bump formed by the front part of the larynx.