Phonetics and Phonology: Production of Speech

Phonetics and Phonology: Production of Speech

• Speech is the result of muscles contracting and expelling the expiratory air stream from the lungs through the vocal tract.
• Speech has three aspects:
  • Physiological aspect: involves the physical process of articulation/production
    • Respiration: the initial phase, involving lungs, bronchi, trachea, and larynx. Air is expelled from the lungs.
    • Phonation: the larynx's role in creating sound. The larynx is made up of cartilages (thyroid, cricoid) and vocal folds.
    • Modification: the tongue moves to shape sound, using the tongue and other articulators (e.g., lips, teeth, palate).
  • Acoustic aspect: focuses on the transmission of sound.
    • Vibration of vocal cords relates to sound production: periodic vibration (tones) = vowels; aperiodic vibration (noise) = consonants.
  • Auditory aspect: concerns perception of speech
    • Ear (outer, middle, inner) processes sound and transmits it to the brain.

Physiological Aspect: Phases of Articulation

• Respiration involves lungs, bronchi, trachea, and larynx, to expel air.
• Phonation: Larynx, containing cartilages (e.g., thyroid, cricoid) and vocal folds, produce sounds.
• Modification: Articulators like the tongue, lips, teeth, palate, and velum shape the sounds into specific articulations, modifying and shaping the breath sounds into distinct phonemes.

Phonation: Vocal Folds

• Vocal folds are located inside the larynx
• Parts of the larynx include the thyroid cartilage (Adam's apple) and cricoid cartilage.
• Different states of the vocal folds create different sounds:
  • Wide apart (breathing, voiceless consonants)
  • Narrow glottis (h)
  • Vibration (vowels, voiced consonants)
  • Tightly closed (glottal stop).
• The glottis is the space between the vocal folds.

Modification: Articulators

• Tongue: The most active articulator, various parts (tip, blade, front, back, root) play a role in modifying sounds.
• Other articulators: Upper lip, lower lip, upper teeth, lower teeth, alveolar ridge, hard palate, soft palate (velum), nasal cavity, pharynx all play a role in shaping sounds.