PART A 1. Describe the articulators above the larynx and their role in the production of speech sounds.

(Roach, 1991) defined that all the sounds we make when we speak are the result of muscles contracting. The muscles in the chest that we use for breathing produce the flow of air that is needed for almost all speech sounds; muscles in the larynx produce many different modifications in the flow of air from the chest to the mouth. After passing through the larynx, the air goes through what we call the vocal tract, which ends at the mouth and nostrils. Here the air from the lungs escapes into the atmosphere. We have a large and complex set of muscles that can produce changes in the shape of vocal tract, and in order to learn how the sounds of speech are produced it is necessary to become familiar with the different parts of the vocal tract. These different parts are called articulators, and the study of them is called articulatory phonetics. Articulation system is divides into two which are passive articulators and active articulators. Passive articulators are those which remain static during the articulation of sound. It includes upper lips, upper teeth, alveolar ridge and hard palate. Active articulators move towards these passive articulators to produce various speech sounds in different manner. The most important articulator is tongue. It includes uvula and lower jaw (lower teeth and lower lip). There are seven articulators described as the primary ones used in the speech. There are the pharynx, velum or soft palate, hard palate, alveolar ridge, tongue, teeth and lips. Those articulators are described: (Guru, Jun 2011) The pharynx is a tube that starts just above the larynx and end s behind the root of the tongue. The top end of the tube is divided into two: one part is the back of the oral cavity while the other is the opening of the way through the nasal cavity. The back of the pharynx can be seen in the mirror when you open the mouth. The velum or soft palate is the soft part of the roof of the mouth. The velum may be raised to completely block the passage of the nasal cavity so that the airstream can only escape through the oral cavity. Sounds produced via the oral cavity are called oral sound such as /s/ and /t/. The velum can also be lowered to completely block

the oral cavity so that air can only escape through the nasal cavity. All nasal consonants in English such as /m/, /n/ and // are produced this way. It is one of the articulators that can be touched by the tongue. When we make the sounds /k/ and /g/ the tongue is in contact with the lower side of the velum and we call the velar consonants. The hard palate is also known as the roof of the mouth. It stretches from the alveolar ridge to the velum. Its curved surface is smooth if you feel it with your tongue. The palatal sound /j/ is produced in this region. The alveolar ridge is located directly behind the top front teeth. Its surface is covered with little ridges. You can feel the uneven surface of the ridges with your tongue. Sounds produced by the tongue touching here are alveolar sound s. (Victoria Fromkin, 2011) Alveolar /t/ /d/ /n/ /s/ /z/ /l/ /r/ is pronounced with the tongue raised in various ways to the alveolar ridge. For /t, d, n/ the tongue tip is raised and touches the ridge, or slightly in front of it. For /s, z/ the sides of the front of the tongue is raised, but the tip is lowered so that air escapes over it. For /l/ the tongue tip is raised while the rest of the tongue remains down, permitting air to escape over its sides. Hence, it is called a lateral sound. For /r/ the tip of the tongue back is curled behind the alveolar ridge or bunch up the tongue behind the ridge. The air escaped through the central part of the mouth when /r/ is articulated. It is a central liquid . The tongue together with lips can considerably affect the shape and size of the oral cavity thus changing the airstream and sound. It is the most flexible articulator. It can be stretched, rolled, curled or moved sideways, upwards or downwards into many different places. It is divided into different parts such as tip, blade, front, back and root. The teeth are lined round the upper and lower sides of the mouth, back almost to the soft palate. The upper and lower teeth can also be brought together to obstruct the airstream, producing a hissing sound. Most speech sounds are produced when the tongue is in contact with the upper teeth. For e.g., dental sounds // and / / are made with the tongue touching the front teeth. The lips are important in the formation of speech sounds. The lips may be pressed together and released suddenly to produce certain consonants such as /p/, /b/ or

rounded to produce vowels like /u:/. Sounds produced as a result of obstruction of airstream with both lips are known as bilabial while sounds produced with the lip in contact with teeth such as /f/, /v/ are called labiodentals. Besides those seven articulators, there are a few others to bear in mind. There are the larynx, jaws, nose and nasal cavity. The larynx is referred to as the voice box. It is situated at the upper end of the trachea below the pharynx. It serves to protect the vocal cords. When the vocal cords are apart , its opening is known as the glottis. When speech sounds are produced, the vocal cords are often vibrate and produce a buzzing sound. For e.g., when produced the voiced consonant sound /z/. (Guru, Jun 2011) The jaws are sometimes called articulators as they aid us in speaking. We certainly move the lower jaw a lot while we speak. However, the jaws cannot make contact with other articulators and so cannot be considered as articulators in the same manner as those. The nose and nasal cavity are important, particularly in the production of nasal consonants such as /m/, /n/ or //. They are not moveable as the main articulators and thus cannot really be considered as articulators in the same way as them. As conclusion, all sound we use in speech is produced by moving air. The process of speaking begins when the air inside the speakers chest escaping from the lungs through the throat, and the mouth and out into the open air. We use our articulators to modify the flow of air so that sounds are produced. We shape the sound with our tongue, lips and teeth in order to say words and sound.

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