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University of Madras
Syllabus with effect from 2020-2021
BA English Literature
[2nd Year, 4th Semester]
ASPECTS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE – PAPER II
Unit 2: Organs of Speech,
Respiratory Region, Phonatory Region and Articulatory Region,
Air Stream Mechanisms and its types
Organs
of Speech:
Respiratory
Region, Phonatory Region and Articulatory Region:
In the
production of speech sounds, we need an air-stream mechanism. In the process of
the air passage, various organs act for the speech sounds. These organs are
organs of speech. The organs, which involve in the production of speech sounds,
are the lungs, the vocal cords, the tongue, the teeth and the lips. Based on
the roles they perform in the conversion of air into sounds, these organs can
be grouped as:
(1) The
Respiratory system
(2) The
Phonatory system
(3) The
Articulatory system
The
Respiratory System:
It consists of the lungs, the muscles of
the chest and the windpipe. Through the expiration process, the air is pushed
and this is the basis of most of the speech sounds.
The
Phonatory system:
It
consists of larynx, situated at the top of the windpipe. Larynx is also called
Adam’s apple. The vocal cords are situated in the larynx. The opening between
the cords is called the glottis. These cords can be opened and closed. When the
two cords come very close to each other, the glottis will be shut completely.
The glottis is opened when we breathe in and out and the cords are drawn wide
apart. At this time, the air gets out of the lungs through this wide open
glottis. Sounds produced with a wide open glottis are called voiceless sounds.
The
consonant sounds /p/, /t/, /k/, /tʃ/, /θ/, /f/, /s/, /ʃ/ and /h/ are examples for voiceless sounds. In the
production of some speech sounds, the vocal cords are loosely held together,
and during this time the pressure of the air from the lungs makes the cords
open and close rapidly.
The
vocal cords vibrate at this time and the sound that is produced by the
vibration of the cords is called voiced sounds. All vowels are normally voiced.
The consonant sounds such as /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /ð/, /z/, /ʒ/, /dʒ/, /l/ and /r/ are voiced
sounds. Whether a sound is voiced or voiceless can be determined on the basis
of this vibration. This vibration can be felt by placing our fingers lightly on
the larynx. During the production of a voiced sound, it vibrates. If it is a
voiceless sound, no vibration.
The
Articulatory system:
Articulatory system consists of the roof of the mouth, tongue, the lips, the teeth, and the nose. Their position and function at the time of the air passage produce speech sounds. Each of this organs either actively or passively has a role in producing sounds.
The following are the major articulators involved in the production of speech sounds.
(a)
The Larynx and Vocal Cords:
The larynx
is the little box that is popularly called the Adam’s apple. It is a casing,
formed of cartilage and muscle, a bony box like structure in the front of the throat,
situated in the upper part of the wind-pipe or the trachea, containing a valve
like opening consisting of two memberanous tissues, the vocal cords. The vocal
cords are like a pair of lips placed horizontally from front to back. They are
joined in the front, but can be separated at the back, and the opening between
them is called glottis. When we breathe in and out, the glottis is open. This
is the position of production of the breathed or voiceless sounds. For example /f,
θ, s, h/ as in the English words fan, think, sell, hell.
(b)
The roof of the mouth:
The
parts the teeth-ridge, the hard palate, soft palate and the uvula form the roof
of the mouth.
The
convex bony part of the roof of the mouth which lies immediately behind the
upper front teeth is called teeth-ridge, also known as alveolar ridge or
alveolum. Immediately after the teeth-ridge, the roof of the mouth becomes
concave and hard and bony. This surface part is called hard palate. Soft palate
lies just behind the hard palate where the surface of the roof of the mouth is
soft and fleshy. Soft palate is also known as velum. The fleshy structure
hanging loose at the extreme end of the roof of the mouth is called uvula.
The
passage of air is possible through nasal cavity as well. It becomes possible
when the soft palate is lowered and the passage of air into the nose is opened
and the passage into the mouth is blocked. So the air from the lungs escapes
only through the nose. Sounds produced at this time are called nasal sounds.
The consonant sounds /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/are nasal sounds.
If the
soft palate is raised and it touches the back wall of the pharynx, the air
passage into the nose is closed. So the air escapes only through the mouth.
Sounds produced during this time are called oral sounds. The closure of the
nasal passage of air by raising the soft palate is called velic closure.
(c)
The tongue:
The
tongue is the active articulator in the production of speech sounds.
Considering its positions and function, the tongue can be divided into the tip,
the blade, the front, the back, and the root of the tongue. The extreme edge of
the tongue is called the tip. Immediately after the tip is the blade of the
tongue and it lies opposite of the teeth-ridge. Beyond the blade lies the front
of the tongue and its position is opposite of the hard palate. The back of the
tongue lies beyond the front of the tongue and its position is opposite of the
soft palate. Even beyond the back of the tongue is its root.
(d)
The lips:
The
lips are also active articulators in the production of certain speech sounds.
Both the upper lip and the lower lip function together to produce the consonant
sounds like /p/, /b/ and /m/.
(e)
The teeth:
Both
the upper teeth and the lower teeth are articulators in producing sounds. They
are passive articulators and lie immediately behind the lips. The tongue is in
contact with the upper side teeth for many speech sounds. Sounds made with the
tongue touching the front teeth are called dental. E.g. /f/ and /v/.
The
Air-Stream Mechanism:
An
air-stream mechanism is needed in the production of speech sounds. The air
flows through the mouth for producing different sounds. This stream of air is
the basis of speech sounds. For the production of many speech sounds, lung-air
is used. The air that we breathe out is modified into speech sounds. Our
breathing system or respiratory mechanism consists of the lungs, the muscles of
the chest and the windpipe. The respiration process involves inspiration and
expiration, the former is taking outer air into the lungs and the latter is throwing
out air from the lungs. It is the expiratory air or the air that we breathe out
is the basis of most of the speech sounds.
There
are three main air-stream mechanisms:
(1)
Pulmonic air-stream mechanism
(2)
Glottalic air-stream mechanism
(3)
Velaric air-stream mechanism
Pulmonic air stream mechanism:
This
air-stream mechanism is used in all languages in the production of most speech
sounds. It consists of the lungs and the respiratory muscles. In the production
of a sound, an initiation is required. Here the walls of the lungs act as the
initiator. When the air-stream mechanism is used to push air out, it is called
egressive and when it is used to draw air in, it is called ingressive. In
producing sounds, the air needs to be pushed out, so we are using an egressive
air-stream mechanism for most of the speech sounds. All English sounds are
produced using this mechanism and ingressive mechanism is not used for speech
sounds.
Pulmonic
egressive sounds are found in all human languages. In many languages, such as
English, all of the sounds are pulmonic egressive. Pulmonic ingressive sounds
are physically possible but seem not to be used in human languages. Some
languages use them paralinguistically, that is, for communication outside of
the normal linguistic system. It is unclear whether pulmonic egressives occur
as normal speech sounds.
Glottalic
air-stream mechanism:
The
closed glottis acts as the initiator and the air in the pharynx is used. The
body of air that’s trapped inside the vocal tract above the larynx while the
glottis (the opening between the vocal folds) remains closed. The closed
glottis can be moved upward to push the air out of the mouth (egressive). It
can also be moved downward to pull the air into the mouth (ingressive). When
either of these actions occurs, it is said that there is a glottalic airstream
mechanism, denoting the central role of the glottis in this process.
Both
egressive and ingressive glottalic air-stream mechanism are used for the speech
sounds of some languages. An egressive glottalic airstream mechanism is used to
produce ejective stop consonants. Several languages in the world including
American Indian languages, African languages and languages spoken in the
Caucasus have ejective consonants in their sound systems. An ingressive
glottalic airstream mechanism is involved in the production of implosive stops.
Several languages in the world including Vietnamese, Cambodian, Sindhi etc.
include implosives in their sound systems.
Velaric
air-stream mechanism:
The
back of the tongue is the initiator and the air in the mouth is set in motion.
This mechanism is also referred to as oral air-stream mechanism. This is the airstream
mechanism used to produce a class of stop consonants called ‘clicks.’ In the
production of clicks, there is a velar closure in which the back of the tongue
is raised to make a complete contact with the soft palate, and the body of air
involved in click production is in front of this closure. Many English speakers
have some clicks used paralinguistically.
Velaric egressive sounds are physically impossible because there is no way to compress the portion of the oral tract between the velar closure and the anterior closure. Velaric ingressive mechanism is used in several African languages.
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