Chapter 3: A&P of the Speech Mechanism

Steps of the speech chain

1. Linguistic level (thoughts of the speaker)

2. Physiological level (speech production)

3. Acoustic level (hearing by the listener)

4. Physiological level (ear of the listener)

5. Linguistic level (understanding by listener)

systems for speech production

respiratory system (respiration), laryngeal system (phonation), and supralaryngeal system (articulation).

structures of the respiratory system

lungs, trachea, rib cage, thorax, diaphragm, abdominal muscles, and other muscle groups

function of respiratory system

provides air needed for speech

inhalation/inspiration - ingressive, diaphragm lowers

exhalation/expiration - egressive, diaphragm contracts

structures of laryngeal system (phonation)

trachea, vocal folds, larynx, and related muscles/cartilages

function of laryngeal system

protects airway (epiglottis)

phonation

maintains air pressure through strenuous activities

vocal folds

vibration brings them together, air blows them apart, bernoulli effect brings them together

bernoulli effect

fast-moving air creates low pressure and pulls vocal folds back together

fundamental frequency

vocal fold vibration speed

supralaryngeal system structures

vocal tract

pharynx - passageway of airflow

velopharyngeal port - opening between the nasal cavity and oral cavity

active articulators

structures that move to modify the airstream, including the tongue, lips, and mandible.

passive articulators

structures that do not move and create the boundaries of the vocal tract, such as the hard palate, alveolar ridge, and teeth.

mandible

moves tongue and lower lip; hinged at TMJ bone, inserts into temporal bone (maxilla = passive)

lips

labial/bilabial production (e.g. /b/, /m/, /p/

lip protrusion related to rounded/unrounded sounds

teeth

contribute to labiodental (/f/, /v/), and interdental (/th/) sounds

alveolar ridge

behind front teeth and continues to hard palate (/d/, /s/, /t/)

hard palate

roof of the mouth, separates oral cavity from nasal cavity (/ch/, /ʤ/)

glottis

space between vocal folds; voiced vs. unvoiced (/h/)

velum (soft palate)

direction of airflow

lowered - into nasal cavity

raised - oral cavity