LECTURE 1 Organs of Speech and their functions

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Lecture 1 Speech production: Organs of speech and their articulatory functions

Descriptive Grammar: Phonetics & Phonology

dr Tomasz Ciszewski

Lecture overview:

1.

Phonetics vs. Phonology: similarities and differences

2.

Speech chain or…….from the brain to the mouth

3.

Organs of speech & their articulatory functions

4.

Introduction to the articulatory description of speech sounds

Speech production: Organs of speech and their functions

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Phonetics:

vs. (?)

Phonology:

Physical description of sounds (acoustic phonetics)

description of sound interrelations and functions

Production of sounds (articulatory phonetics)

semantically contrastive vs. semantically redundant features

Perception & Speech Processing (auditory phonetics)

possible sound combinations (phonotactics)

Similarity: same data

Differences: different methods different interest in phonetics detail phonetics: ‘never too much’ phonology: ‘abstract away’, look for invariance different questions asked about sounds

Phonological interpretation, however, always starts with phonetic analysis.

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Here is a humorous illustration of the difference…… Phonetics….

Phonology….

Source: http://specgram.com/CLIII.1/09.parenchyma.cartoon.e.html

Some more useful links: http://www.phon.ox.ac.uk/jcoleman/PHONOLOGY1.htm

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Speech chain: Communication involves a complex series of events:

THE SPEAKER

Physychological

Physiological (articulatory)

Physical (acoustic)

brain

muscles/articulators

sound wave

concept

neural commands

disturbances in the air

THE LISTENER For a more detailed desciption of the speech chain visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-542j-laboratory-on-thephysiology-acoustics-and-perception-of-speech-fall-2005/syllabus/

Speech production: Organs of speech and their functions

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Organs of speech……or …..an excursion through the vocal tract

SOURCE: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/Dwjhomi3APw/TdTObXw6iVI/AAAAAAAAAB4/3ZyVZ UywLPM/s1600/Diagram%2Bof%2Bspeech%2Borgan s.gif

SOURCE: http://homepage.ntu.edu.tw

A excellent selection of vocal tract images can be found at: http://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~karchung/intro%20page%205.htm *skip the MRI images

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Speech production mechanism (1): Source of energy: egressive (forced outwards) airstream (most typical for speech sounds) ingressive (‘sucked’ inwards) airstream (mostly used extralinguistically, e.g. as a way of expressing pain/surprise)

pulmonic (=coming from the lungs)

non-pulmonic

The most typical combination of the two mechanisms in speech production is: egressive pulmonic……… ……….although in a number of African languages (e.g. Zulu, Xhosa spoken in RSA the so called ‘clicks’ are an important part of the consonant system) Click here for short presentations of ‘clicks’: http://mylanguages.org/zulu_alphabet.php http://www.byki.com/lists/Zulu/All-clicks.html

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Speech production mechanism (2): The pulmonic air is transported upwards under pressure through the TRACHEA

(also known as windpipe ). At the top of trachea there is the LARYNX, in which a bony structure called the ADAM’S APPLE is situated.

Inside the larynx there are the VOCAL FOLDS/CORDS (made of ligament and elastic tissue; their size ranges from 11-16mm [females] to 17-22mm [males] ).

The space between the vocal folds is referred to as the GLOTTIS. The vocal folds may assume three positions: a. tightly closed: swallowing and glottal stop ? b. open (breathing and voiceless sounds) c. vibrating* (voiced sounds): normally at 100-150Hz (males) and at 200-325Hz (females) *Vocal folds vibrations are controlled by an aerodynamic law referred to as Bernoulli’s effect.

pitch variations result from loudness variations result from

Read more: http://www.voicesource.co.uk/article/151

changes in the frequency of vibrations differences in the air pressure from the lungs Speech production: Organs of speech and their functions

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Speech production mechanism (2): Above the larynx there is a cavity know as the PHARYNX. At the base of the tongue the EPIGLOTTS is situated; it functions as a valve which prevents food from passing into the trachea (instead of the OESOPHAGUS) while swallowing. It has no articulatory function, though. At this stage the air has two possible ways of escape: though the nose (NASAL CAVITY) or through the mouth (ORAL CAVITY).

This depends on the position of the SOFT PALATE (also known as VELUM), at the end of which there is a movable appendix known as the UVULA. The velum may be thought of as another valve which closes the entrance to either cavity: in the raised position it closes the entrance to the nasal cavity (oral sounds, like [b], [d] are produced);

in the lowered position it closes the entrance to the oral cavity (nasal sounds, like [m], [n] are produced then). Speech production: Organs of speech and their functions

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Speech production mechanism (3): The main articulators are situated in the oral cavity. These include: the TONGUE (divided for convenience into the back, center, front and the tip), which may assume different position within the cavity, resulting in different shape of the resonator = different sound quality the HARD PALATE: a bony structure forming the roof of the oral cavity

the ALVEOLAR RIGDE (pol.: wyrostek zębodołowy) situated in the front part of the hard palate, and

the TEETH. Finally, the lips may modulate the quality of the sound by assuming different shapes.

They may be: rounded (as for [u]) spread (as for [i]) neutral (as for [a])

*Now, look again at the images of the vocal tract (slide 6) and trace the airflow.

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Articulatory description of speech sounds An Introduction: Consonants: the articulation of consonants involves some sort of obstruction to the airstream the obstruction may be total or partial the flow of air may be obstructued in different areas of the oral cavity

and/or the glottis vocal folds may or may not vibrate (consonants may be voiced or voiceless)

Vowels:

there is no obstruction to the airstream the tongue assumes different positions in the oral cavity, which changes the

shape and the size of the resonator

vowel quality

vocal folds vibrate

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READING:

Obligatory: 1. Gimson, A.C. Gimson’s Pronunciation of English Chapter 1: Communication Chapter 2: The production of speech

2. Sobkowiak, W. English phonetics for Poles Chapter 4: Organs of speech 3. Reszkiewicz, A. Correct your English pronunciation page: 99

(organs of speech in cross-section + Polish terminology)

4. Roach, P. English Phonetics and Phonology pages: ix, x, (optionally: xi) (List of phonetic symbols) Optional: (for those more interested / ambitious / hard-working / curious / inquisitive….) http://www.scribd.com/doc/48937080/anatomy-of-phonation

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