Articulation: how sounds are made

Organs which are active directly or indirectly in the process of speech production are called organs of speech. In accordance with their linguistic function the organs of speech may be grouped as follows:

The respiratory or power mechanism furnishes the flow of air which is the first requisite for the production of speech sounds. This mechanism is formed by the lungs, the wind-pipe and the bronchi. The air –stream expelled from the lungs provides the most usual source of energy which is regulated by the power mechanism. Regulating the force of the air-wave the lungs produce variations in the intensity of speech sounds. Syllabic pulses and dynamic stress, both typical of English are directly related to the behaviour of the muscles which activate this mechanism.

From the lungs through the wind-pipe the air-stream passes to the upper stages of the vocal tract. First of all it passes to the larynx containing the vocal cords which form the vibratory mechanism. If the vocal cords are closed so that they can touch each other lightly, the air passing between them causes them to vibrate, and the sound is voiced. By moving the vocal cords wide open we can stop the vibration, and make the sound voiceless. The space between the vocal cords is called glottis, and the sounds are made are called glottal; in English there are two of them: one is a voiceless fricative like a sigh before a stressed vowel [ h ] in high, and the other is a glottal stop[ʔ], plosive made at the glottis by the vocal cords when they are pressed tightly together, as in [ b ʌ ʔ(ə )n] button.

Resonator mechanism. The vocal tract above the larynx starts with a passage way called pharynx. Then the vocal tract divides: one passage way goes up into the nasal cavity, and the other into the mouth cavity. We can close off the access to the nasal cavity by rising the soft palate (also called velum), and then the air will go through the mouth, and the sound will be oral(most English and Russian), or we can lower the soft palate and allow the air to go into the nasal cavity, in which case the sound will be nasal/m, n, /. The extreme end of the velum is a small piece of tissue called the uvula which plays a part in the pronunciation of some languages: French for instance, has a uvular sound [R].

Pharynx and mouth cavity can vary their capacity and they both serve as a resonator in the process of vowel sound production. Nasal cavity also serves as a resonator but it cannot vary its shape and capacity.

Obstruction mechanism. Inside the mouth there are many parts called articulatorswhich are used in speaking. The tongue, the lower jaw and the lipscan move and make contact with the immobile palate(the roof of the mouth), the alveolar ridge and the teeth. The principle parts of the tongue are the tip, blade, front, centre, back and root.

The primary articulators that can cause an obstruction are the lips, the tongue tip and blade, and the back of the tongue. Speech gestures using the lips are called labial articulations; those using the tip and blade of the tongue are called coronal articulations; and those using the middle part and the back of the tongue are called dorsal articulations.

Articulation process is described best of all and reflected in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as a system of symbols where each symbol corresponds to a sound with a particular articulatory feature. It is also called transcription system. IPA was devised for phoneticians of the world to understand each other when describing any world language. Dictionaries and manuals use transcription to represent the pronunciation of words.