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Chapter 2

How the speech organs


work in English?

We speak with air from the lungs

The bicycle horn

The Speech Organs

The Larynx
A

cylindrical structure made of muscles


behind Adams apple.

The

vocal cords (folds) are two small bands


of elastic tissue lying across the air passage.

Positions of the vocal cords


1. Opened

apart so that air passes freely to


produce voiceless sounds (several
consonants).
2. Opened and closed quickly to cause rapid
vibration for voiced sounds (all vowels
and some consonants).
3. Closed and opened suddenly to release
compressed air for a glottal stop //.

The Pharynx
Immediately

above the larynx, it is the


space behind the tongue connecting to the
nasal cavity.
There are no pharyngeal sounds in
English.

Articulators in the oral cavity


These are used together to form an
obstruction to the air passage:
Upper

articulators: upper lip, teeth,


surface of mouth (palate).
Lower articulators: lower lip, teeth and
tongue.

The Palate
The

bony structure at the roof of the


mouth.
Palatal sounds are made with the front of
the tongue against the palate (yes).

Soft palate (velum)


The

soft area behind the palate.


Sounds made using the velum are called
velar (luck, lug, lung).

The soft palate ends with the uvula


A

long thin structure at the back of the


mouth.
English does not have uvular sounds.

The soft palate is used to open


and close the nasal cavity
Sounds

made with the soft palate raised


are called oral (most of the sounds).
Sounds made with the soft palate lowered
are called nasal (ram, ran, rang).
French has nasalized vowels (un)

Alveolar ridge
Part

of the gums behind the upper front


teeth.
Alveolar sounds include /t d n s z l/.
Postalveolar sounds are made with the
tongue at the back of the alveolar ridge (she,
cheese, judge, pleasure).
Retroflex sounds are made with the tongue
curled back behind the alveolar ridge (red).

Teeth
Dental

sounds are made with the forward


part of the tongue articulating with the
upper teeth (thin and then).
The lower front teeth are not very
important for speech.

Tongue
The

tongue is the most important speech


organ as it has the greatest variety of
movement.

Lips
They

articulate together to form bilabial


sounds (p, b, m).
The lower lip articulates with the upper
teeth to form labiodental sounds (f, v).
Lips can be rounded or spread.
English has no exaggerated lip
movements compared other languages.

Summary
When you study the movements of speech
organs for a certain English sound, compare
them with a similar sound in your language.

Name the vocal organs

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