Articulation

Presented by:Mary G. Cruz

Now we will explore how the air and vibration passing through the vocal tract are shaped by the articulators into speech sounds.

So far in our study, we have learned how the airstream is created (respiration), how it sets the vocal folds into action, creating a buzz (phonation), and that buzz is modified by the airspace above the larynx (resonation).

Articulation

An Overview of Articulation

Articulation is a process of producing sounds into understandable language

>Voicing

>Placement of Articulation

>Manners of Articulation

VoicingAll languages have voiced and voiceless sounds.Voiced Sounds-Sounds produced when vocal folds come together (adduction) and vibrate

Voiceless Sounds-Sounds produced by opening of vocal folds (abduction) and vibration of other parts of mouth and throat

Place of Articulation- (also known as point of articulation) is the point of contact where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract between an active articulator  (typically some part of the tongue) and a passive location (typically some part of the roof of the mouth).Active Articulator-usually moves in order to make the constriction Passive Articulator-usually just sits there and gets approached

>Bilabial >Post alveolar>Labiodental >Palatal>Dental >Velar >Alveolar >Glottal

Manners of Articulation

>Stop>Nasal>Trill>Fricative>Affricative>Approximant>Lateral Approximant

-Describes the degree of narrowing in the oral cavity-specify the escape channel, the initiating source of the airflow involved and the certain acoustic or perceptual characteristics.

Anatomy of Articulation

Anatomy of ArticulationThere are two major types of articulators:•Moveable articulators-are structures that can move and allow us to shape the sound•Fixed articulators-are those that cannot be moved by muscles

Upper Teeth

Lower Teeth

Alveolar Ridge

Palate

Velum

Nasal Cavity

Epiglottis

Esophagus

Trachea

Passive Articulators

Upper Teeth

Lower Teeth

Alveolar Ridge

Palate

Velum

Nasal Cavity

Epiglottis

Esophagus

Trachea

Passive Articulators

Lips (lower)Uvula

Tongue

Glottis

Active Articulators

Lips (lower)Uvula

Tongue

Glottis

Active Articulators

Physiology of Articulation

Movements and shape changes of the mouth cavity, tongue, and lips produce recognizable vowels and consonants.

Vowels -are formed by altering the shape of the lipsConsonants-are generated by a movement of the tip of the tongue to and from the back of the teeth or roof of the mouth, or by a rapid separation of the lips.

Bilabial

Labio-dental

Dental

Alveolar

Post-alveola

r

Palatal

Velar

Glottal

Glottal

Stop

Fricative

Affricative

A stop followed by a fricative at the same place of articulation

Affricative

Approximant

LateralApproxima

nt

Nasal

Say ‘mmmm’ – where is the ‘m’ sound produced? Pinch your nose – what happens? Put your fingers in your ears – what do you hear?

Thinking About Sounds…

WHAT PART OF THE BRAIN

CONTROLS SPEECH???

?

Speech requires the coordinated contraction of a number of different muscles including those that control breathing , the opening and closing of the vocal cords, and the movement of the lips and tongue. Control of these muscles resides in Broca’s (speech) area in the left cerebral hemisphere of the brain.

Broca’s area receives input from Wernicke’s area about ‘what is to be spoken’. Wernicke’s Area, in turn, receives input from other parts of the cerebrum including from the auditory cortex , concerning spoken language, and from the visual cortex about written language.

Broca’s Area Wernicke’s Area

Broca's area is one of the main areas of the cerebral cortex responsible for producing language. This brain area controls motor functions involved with speech production.

Broca's area is connected to another brain region known as Wernicke’s area. Wernicke's area is associated with processing and understanding language.

Damage to Broca's AreaDamage to Broca's area is called Broca's aphasia. A person suffering damage will likely exhibit problems like words not coming out properly formed, slowed or slurred speech, and prevention of producing words.

Damage to Wernicke's areaDamage to the Wernicke's area known as Wenicke's aphasia would result in people suffering from the loss of ability to comprehend language, and also the ability to speak words clearly but the inability to properly put them together. The words someone would speak would be out of order and would make no sense.

Speech-related brain disorders can range from but not limited to strokes, traumatic brain injury, aphasia, brain tumors, brain infections, degeneration defects and disrupted blood flow to the brain. Depending on the extent of the disorder and damage speech can be impaired on different levels. Depending on the disorder and treatment available speech damage may be able to be repaired through speech therapists and ongoing treatment of the disorder.