Video Notes: Speech Production – Vocal Tract, Velopharyngeal Mechanisms, and Articulatory Techniques (Vocabulary Flashcards)

A set of vocabulary-style flashcards covering key terms from the video notes on vocal tract anatomy, velopharyngeal function, resonance, articulation, and measurement techniques.

Velopharyngeal closure

The act of sealing the velopharyngeal port to separate the nasal and oral cavities during most oral speech.

Velopharyngeal port

The opening between the nasopharynx and oropharynx that can be opened for nasal sounds or closed for oral sounds.

Velum (soft palate)

The movable soft tissue that closes or opens the velopharyngeal port during speech.

Levator veli palatini

Primary muscle that elevates the velum to achieve velopharyngeal closure.

Superior pharyngeal constrictor

Muscle that constricts the nasopharyngeal walls to aid velopharyngeal closure.

Palatoglossus

Muscle involved in velopharyngeal function and nasal resonance adjustments.

Uvula

The fleshy projection at the back of the soft palate; landmark for velopharyngeal anatomy.

Nasal cavity

Air-filled space behind the nose; warms, humidifies air and contributes to nasal resonance.

Nasal conchae

Bony folds (superior, middle) in the nasal cavity that increase turbulence and surface area.

Nasal septum

Cartilage and bone separating the two nasal cavities.

Hard palate

The bony front part of the palate separating the oral and nasal cavities; important for speech articulation.

Oral cavity

The mouth space where speech sounds are formed via lips, tongue, and jaw movements.

Pharyngeal cavity

Throat space behind the oral and nasal cavities; its size influences vocal tract resonance.

Formant

A resonance peak in the speech spectrum corresponding to a vocal-tract cavity.

Nasal formant

A formant associated with nasal resonance when the nasal cavity contributes to the sound.

Anti-formant

Weakened formants caused by nasal resonance (nasalized speech) appearing as damped resonances.

Formant peaks

Energy peaks in a vowel’s spectrum that define its identity and vowel quality.

Source-Filter Theory

Concept that speech arises from a sound source shaped by the vocal tract filter.

Vocal tract as filter

The vocal tract acts as a dynamic resonator that shapes incoming sound by changing its length and shape.

Stop consonants

Consonants produced by momentary occlusion of the oral cavity, followed by release (often with aspiration).

Voicing

Whether the vocal folds vibrate (voiced) or not (voiceless) during sound production.

Voice Onset Time (VOT)

The interval between stop release and the onset of voicing; longer for voiceless stops, shorter for voiced stops.

Fricatives

Consonants produced with a narrow constriction that creates turbulent air and noise.

Turbulence

Irregular air flow that generates noise and hissing qualities in speech sounds.

Coarticulation

Mutual influence of adjacent sounds on each other during speech.

Anticipatory coarticulation

A following sound influences the articulation of an earlier sound (e.g., lip rounding before a rounded vowel).

Carryover coarticulation

A sound’s articulatory traits persist into subsequent sounds after production.

Spectrogram

A visual display of a sound’s frequency content over time, with darkness indicating intensity.

Diphthongs

Vowel sounds that involve a noticeable transition in quality during articulation.

Electroplathography (EPG)

Technique to sense tongue contact against an artificial palate to study articulation.