The Human Speech Apparatus

The Organ of Speech

1. The vocal tract

If the human head were to be cut in half down the midline, the organs of speech would appear like this:

Use the figure below to identify the organs of speech in the above figure.

(This figure was downloaded

fromhttp://www.csulb.edu/~phoneme/organs.html.)

Let's not forget the lungs, which are in the chest, and are connected to the tube which goes up to the vocal cords (the trachea or
windpipe). Although the lungs are not shown in the above figure, perhaps the most important organ of speech, the brain, is visible in
the preceding MRI image.
2. Anatomy of the larynx:
External structure of the larynx, as viewed from the front
Coronal (vertical) section through the larynx, as viewed from the
back:
The upper part of the interior of the larynx may be examined using
various instruments, allowing us to obtain images such as the
following.

Viewed from above, with the vocal cords slightly apart, the upper
part of the larynx appears like this:

The space between the vocal cords is called the glottis. When the vocal cords vibrate, the resulting disturbance in the air imparts a
"buzzing" quality to the speech, called voice or voicing.

With the vocal cords completely closed, as for a glottal stop and with the vocal cords wide open, as during quiet respiration preceding
speech.

3. Phonation and the larynx

Phonation is the contribution the larynx makes to speech.
The nature of voicing: the mucosal wave
1) For voiced sounds, the vocal cords are held together by the action of the arytenoid cartilages, but they are held
together less tightly than for a glottal stop.

When air is forced up the trachea from the lungs, at a certain pressure it is able to force its way through the vocal cords,
pushing them open (2, 3 and 4). As air passes through the glottis, the air pressure in the glottis falls, because when a gas
or liquid runs through a constricted passage, its velocity increases (the Venturi tube effect). This increase in velocity
results in a drop in pressure of that gas or liquid (the Bernouilli principle). Because of the drop in pressure, the vocal
cords snap together, at the lower edge first, closing again (6-10). The cycle then begins again. A single cycle of opening
and closing takes in the region of 1/100th second: therefore, the cycle repeats at rates in the region of 100 times per
second (to be more specific, between about 80-200 cycles per second). This rate is too rapid for the human ear to be
able to discriminate each individual opening/closing of the vocal cords. However, we perceive variations in the overall
rate of vibration as changes in the pitch of the voice, "pitch" being the perceptual correlate of acoustic frequency.

Voicelessness
If the vocal cords are held apart, air can flow between them without being obstructed, so that no noise is produced by
the larynx. In voiceless fricatives such as [f], [s], [], [], [], [ç], [x], and [], the vocal cords are held apart. If there is a
sufficiently high rate of airflow through the open glottis, a quiet disruption of the air, whisper, results. The glottal
fricative [h] has whisper phonation, as do whispered vowels, and the aspiration portion of voiceless aspirated stops such
as English /p/, /t/, or /k/ in pre-vocalic position. The IPA diacritic [], written below a symbol, indicates such voicelessness.
Voiceless vowels, nasals and liquids can be transcribed using that diacritic. For stops and fricatives, on the other hand,
there are separate letters for voiced and voiceless sounds, e.g. [b] (voiced) vs. [p]. In these cases, the voicelessness
diacritic can be used to denote a (possibly partially) devoiced realisation of a phoneme that might otherwise be
expected to be voiced, such as the pronunciation of the // in /teIn/, "train", in which the // may be devoiced due to its
following a voiceless, aspirated /t/.

Breathy voice, or murmur

This phonation is a combination of breath and voice, which occurs if the vocal cords do not close completely along their
entire length while they are vibrating, the air which flows through the remaining aperture adds whisper to the vocal
cord vibrations.

Creaky voice, or creak

In this kind of voicing, the vocal cords are stiffened, so that they are very rigid as they vibrate.
Manners of Articulation - The Complete List (with Examples)
It's often challenging to know how sounds of language are articulated just by listening to them.
As it so happens, the Manners and Places of articulation give you a lot of information about the articulation of a sound
which would otherwise go unnoticed.
Well, you’re in for a treat, because I'm going to give you an up-to-date and comprehensive list of all the manners of
articulation. I've also added examples in English and in other languages when none were present in English.
Nasals
First, there are the nasal consonants.
The distinctive feature of nasal consonants is that you let air out of your nose as you pronounce them.
For example, the nasal consonants [m] and [n] are quite common in languages and are certainly found in English.
Let's take a word that starts with M in English such as man.
Pronounce only the M in man and put your finger right in front of your nostrils. You should feel some air coming out.
This tells you that there is an element of nasality to this consonant sound.
For nonnasal consonant sounds, there may be a bit of air coming out of the nose, but the flow of air is more pronounced
with nasal consonants (and nasal vowels, for that matter).
Let's move on to the plosives.
 Plosives or Stops
There are quite a few plosives in English.
Basically, these are consonants where air is blocked at the place of articulation to accumulate pressure and it is then
released in one instant. Just pronounce words with D's, B's and K's and you'll notice the single pulse of air being
ejected as you pronounce these letters.
Here are a few words so that you can check for yourself: bag, gap, lack.
 Sibilance
Sibilance is not a manner of articulation by itself on the chart.
So, why are we talking about it here?
Because it's something that characterizes certain affricates and certain fricatives, which we'll see next. Sibilant
consonants are distinctive as they are louder and at a higher frequency.
The high frequency sound is very similar to TV or radio static. Just pronounce a very long S and you'll get what I mean.

 Sibilant Affricates
Affricates can be viewed as a combination of two sounds which are pronounced pretty much simultaneously.
Often, in phonetic transcriptions, the two sounds will be joined by a tie bar like this: [ ͡ ].
In sibilant affricates, it's usually the sound on the right that is sibilant. Two examples of sibilant affricates in
English are [t͡ʃ] and [d͡ʒ].
The ch in the word change represents the sound [t͡ʃ] while the g in the same word is pronounced [d͡ʒ].
 Non-sibilant Affricates
Unlike in sibilant affricates, the sound on the right in non-sibilant affricates lacks sibilance.
In other words, it doesn't have the radio static-like aspect to it.
The best example I can come up with is in New York English. If you ever get the chance, notice how they
pronounce the word tooth. The th sound at the end is pronounced [t͡ θ].
If you want to hear what a non-sibilant affricate is right now, listen to this guy for a bit. Some of his th sounds
in words like that and this sound like [d͡ ð]:
  Sibilant Fricatives
Next up are the fricatives.
The distinctive feature of fricatives is that, when producing them, you use your vocal apparatus to partially
block the airflow at the place of articulation in such a way that only some air passes through.
By restraining the airflow, it creates some friction between the air and your vocal apparatus which is what
produces the distinctive kind of sound of the fricatives.
Sibilant fricatives are characterized by louder and higher frequency sounds than non-sibilant fricatives. These
are the sounds found in a words like show and season.
 Non-sibilant Fricatives
Non-sibilant fricatives are essentially the same except that the sound is not as intense.
To hear that difference, compare the sibilant fricative sounds of show and seasonwith the th in this and
the f in fine.
 Approximants
Approximants can be considered half way between vowels and fricatives.
When pronouncing an approximant, the air flows smoothly through the vocal apparatus so that very little
friction is created.
Here are two approximants in Standard American English: [ɹ], represented by the letter R and [j], represented
by the letter Y, usually.

Notice how there's not quite contact at the place of articulation?

This is what results in the smoothness of the airflow.
Some examples of words with approximants in Standard American English are yetand rat.
 Taps or Flaps
Taps are similar to plosives, but a tap is a single brief burst with little accumulation of pressure at the place
of articulation which results in a contact time that is usually much less.
Compared to taps, more pressure is accumulated to produce plosives, which results in a tendency for them to
have longer contact time, especially before the sound is actually produced.
That is not possible for taps; the contact lasts about only as long as the sound itself.

 Trills
Trills are, in turn, similar to taps, but instead of a single brief burst at the place of
articulation, it is a series of repeated bursts.
There are no trills in Standard American English, but if you've ever heard some Spanish,
you might have noticed that some of their R's are trills.
The classic example of the trill in Spanish is found in the word carro. It is sometimes
called the rolled R and it is represented by [r]:

 Laterals
The key feature of laterals is that the airflow passes to the sides (of the tongue, usually) when
pronouncing them.
If your native language uses the Latin alphabet, chances are that the L in it is a lateral.
The only sound in Standard American English which is a lateral, to my knowledge, is [ɫ] (also known
as the "dark" L) and sometimes [l] (depending on who is pronouncing and of the position of the L in
the syllable).
Here are a few examples in Standard American English: lake and bell.
Place of Articulation
The 'Place of Articulation' is the point of contact, where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract
between an active, moving articulator (typically one part of the tongue) and a passive articulator
(typically one part of the roof of the mouth). The 'Manner of Articulation' gives the consonant its
distinctive sound.
The 'Place of Articulation', the speech organs, are primarily involved in the production of a particular
sound. These speech organs modify the airstream that is pushed up by the lungs; this process
produces different sounds. The place where the airstream is obstructed is furthermore significant for
the exact production of sounds.
Consonants are distinguished according to the location of their production (the various organs of the
vocal tract).
Talking about the Place of Articulation we distinguish between active and passive articulators. There
are five active articulators that can act independently of one another:
 the lips:
o Labials & Labio-velar sounds
 the flexible front of the tongue:
o Coronals
 the middle/back of the tongue:
o Dorsals
 the root of the tongue together with the epiglottis:
o Radicals
 the larynx:
o Glottals
The passive articulation is a range without clear-cut boundaries. The places fuse into one another,
and a consonant is pronounced somewhere between the following named places.
 labial and interdental
 interdental and dental
 dental and alveolar
 alveolar and palatal
 palatal and velar
 velar and uvular
Places of Articulation - The Complete List (with Examples)
Understanding how to produce sounds of language can be a difficult
endeavour.
But it turns out that by knowing about the Places and Manners of articulation,
you get a much better grasp of how these sounds are produced.
Luckily for you, I've compiled a comprehensive and up-to-date list of all the
places of articulation. I've even thrown in some examples in English and in
other languages when there were none in English.
Bilabial
Bilabials are consonant sounds produced by using both lips together.

Read this word out loud and notice how you're using both lips to pronounce the letters in bold: bump.
Labiodental
Labiodentals are also pretty straightforward; they are articulated by using both the lower lip and the upper front
teeth.

Examples of these sounds in English are pretty much in any word that contains the letters F and V.
Pronounce the word favor and notice the point of articulation.
Linguolabial
Linguolabials are articulated by using both the tongue and the upper lip.
There are very few known linguolabials in languages and I don't know any language which has any.
However, I can still show you how they can be produced. Let's try to pronounce the linguolabial consonant [t̼ ]:
1. Do as if you're about to say the letter p. You'll notice that both your lips will be joined together.
2. Now, replace your lower lip with the tip of your tongue.
3. Do the p this way.
The result should be the linguolabial [t̼ ].
Pro Tip: If you're learning to speak a language that uses linguolabials a lot, get some lip moisturizer (saliva is
known to cause chapped lips).
Dental
Some languages have dental consonants where only the tongue and the teeth are used.

English has two dental sounds: [θ] and [ð].

These consonants are found, respectively, in the words thing and this.
Alveolar
The point of articulation of alveolar consonants is situated near the alveolar ridge, which is the area lying
between the upper front teeth and the palate, as you can see in this picture:

Pronounce words such as tow and zap and you'll feel that the point of contact is at the area shown on the
picture.
Palato-Alveolar
Palato-alveolars occur slightly deeper in the mouth than alveolars:
There are at least two such sounds in Standard American English: [ʃ], present in a word like sheep, and [ʒ],
found in a word like occasion.
I invite you to produce the alveolar [s] in the word sap and immediately follow it with the palato-alveolar [ʃ]
in sheep.
You should be able to feel how far deeper palato-alveolars are compared to alveolars.
Retroflex

The distinctive feature of some retroflex consonants is that, the tongue curls up slightly on itself when
produced.
Some speakers of Standard American English actually use a retroflex consonant: the [ɻʷ]. It occurs in pretty
much any word that starts with R followed by a vowel such a red and real.
You'll find that it's not too difficult to imagine other consonants where the tongue curls up like that.
In fact, if you've heard Apu in the Simpsons, you'll notice that his T's and D's are the retroflex [ʈ] and [ɖ].
Heck, here's a short clip of him from YouTube:
Alveolo-Palatal
This is where it gets trickier because it's becoming more and more difficult to feel areas in your mouth that are
that deep and also because alveolo-palatals are not present in Standard American English, as far as I know.
The best way to show you this point of articulation is to invite you to pronounce a familiar sound like
the sh in sheep and instead, to place the tongue slightly further away on the palate, which should cause you to
produce a [ɕ].
See this image for the point of articulation:

Courtesy of one of my Swedish friends who agreed to record her voice for me to use here. Here's an audio clip
of herself pronouncing the word tjej in Swedish, which contains the alveolo-palatal consonant [ɕ], represented
here by the letters tj :
As you can hear, it sounds almost the same as the sh sound we are familiar with in English.
Palatal
We are now getting to a depth in the mouth where portions like the back of the tongue are starting to be used to
produce sounds.
Palatals are produced at this location:
The approximant [j], found in the word yet, is also a palatal. Notice that it is the back of the tongue that comes
into near contact with the palate when pronouncing the Y in that word.
Velar
There are a few velars in English, so it should be pretty straightforward to learn what their point of articulation
is.
The point of articulation is indicated here:

With the Standard American English pronunciation, read out loud the word king, which has both the velars [k]
and [ŋ] as both the first and last consonant sounds, respectively.
Uvular
A little deeper in the mouth, the uvula is found (the little thing that's dangling from the top in the back of the
mouth), which is used for uvular consonants.
Here it is:

Sadly, there are none in Standard American English, but imagine that the tongue has to reach an area a little
deeper than the ng in king.
So, again, the back of the tongue is used to reach that area.
Luckily for us, my native language, French, has the uvular sound [ʁ], which I can show you here in the
word roux in French :
Pharyngeal and Epiglottal
We now proceed even deeper in the vocal tract and reach a point where only the root of the tongue reaches, at
least in normal cases.
Pharyngeals and epiglottals are produced in the area delimited in red:

I'm not yet familiar with any language which has pharyngeal or epiglottals consonants, but it seems that several
languages of the Afro-Asiatic family have them, such as dialects of Arabic.
These consonants are pronounced with either the pharynx or the epiglottis (depending on the consonant
sound), which are literally in the throat.
Glottal
The glottis is even deeper than the pharynx and epiglottis in the throat. You can see where glottal consonants
are produced here:

The glottis, as much as we might not realize it, is used for the h sound in English; [h].
Just pronounce the words happy and heat and notice how far down the throat these sounds come from.
Other glottal sounds found in other languages also come from this location.