Chapter 11.2: Speech Organs

Chapter 11.2 The organs of speech

When we speak, we use our vocal tracts to produce sounds, or phones. Before
examining the sounds we make in English, it is helpful to understand what
these organs are and how they are used.

In English, almost all sounds are made by obstructing the air in some way as
it passes through the oral cavity. Air is expelled from the lungs, up through
the glottis, past the vocal cords. The vocal cords are two thin membranes that
stretch across the larynx. They open when we breath, but they vibrate against
each other when we make certain sounds (called “voiced” sounds), as you can see in the following videos:

https://youtu.be/mJedwz_r2Pc

Once the air has passed the vocal cords, it is restricted or obstructed, often by some part
of the tongue as it is placed near or against various parts of the oral cavity.
These places include the lips,
the teeth, the hard alveolar ridge directly behind the teeth, the long, concave
roof of the mouth, called the palate or sometimes the hard palate, and then the
velum, also called the soft palate. For most sounds the velum closes the passage
into the nasal cavity, but for nasal sounds the passage is left open so that air
can resonate there.

In this video of two people, an opera singer and a beat boxer, you can see how
the speech organs move to create different sounds. As you watch, concentrate on
the movements of the tongue — notice where and how it hits against various parts
of the mouth, or how it shapes itself to produce different vowels. After completing
the entire section on phonology, you might want to come back and watch it again.

https://youtu.be/M2OdAp7MJAI