The organs of speech and their functions: Active and passive organs of speech; The articulatory mechanism and its work

Experimental phonetics: Methods of investigation (The direct observation method; The experimental method; The distributional method; The semantic method).

Instrumental methods deriving from physics and physiology were introduced into the Ph in the second half of the 20^th century. The introduction of machines for the measurements and for instrumental analysis has resulted in their use for detailed study of many of the phenomena which are present in the sound wave or in the articulatory process at any given moment. Today there are no areas of phonetics in which useful work is done without combining these 2 ways of ph investigation. There are some principal methods of investigation which can be subjective or objective. Dickushina distinguishes 3 principal methods. 1) the direct observation. 3 modes of ph analysis: by ear, by sight, by muscular sensation. It’s the oldest and the simplest methods, most ready-available. It consists of observing the movements/position of one’s own sp organs while pronouncing various sp sounds as well as in analyzing one’s own kinesthetic sensations. Investigations by this method can be effective only if people are trained to observe even the slightest movements. 2) the linguistic method. The aim is to determine in what way the phonetic features are used in a l to convey a certain meaning. –Distributional method. It is mainly used by phoneticians of structuralism, who consider it possible to discover the phoneme of the l by grouping all the sounds into phonemes acc to the laws of phonemic and allophonic distribution: 1. Allophones of different phonemes occur in the same ph context;2. Allophones of the same phoneme never occur in the same ph context. – Semantic method is based on a phonemic rule that phonemes can distinguish w-s and morphemes when opposed to one another. 3)  the experimental method. It’s based upon the use of special apparatus and instruments. Artificial palate is used to ascertain the exact tongue-palate contacts in articulating sounds. Laryngoscope – a small circular mirror which is introduced into pharynx far back as possible. It helps to observe larynx, glottis and vocal cords. Magnetic tape recorder has gained wide popularity. It’s used for recording speech and sounds and then reproducing them exactly. Spectrograph is used for obtaining spectrograms of speech sounds mainly for the purpose of harmonic analysis. Intonograph measures automatically fundamental tone of the vocal cords, the duration of speech/ pauses.

 

 

The aspects of speech sounds.

Speech sounds are of complex nature and have different aspects. Dickushina: acoustic, biological, linguistic. Leontyeva: acoustic, physiological/articulatory, functional. Vasilev: acoustic, articulatory, functional, auditory.

Biological. Speech sounds are phenomena resulting from the activity of speech organs. Antropophonics- a part of phonetics that is concerned with the work of organs and their ability to form sp sounds. Due to Pavlov’s work we can see that this is due to activity of cerebral hemispheres that a man uses lang. The ability of a man to respond by means of speech is what differentiates him from any other animals and makes him superior.

Sounds can be analyzed from acoustic point of view. Like any other sounds speech sounds, which are caused by the work of an articulatory organ, are communicated to the air in the form of sound waves. Sp sounds have pitch, intensity and timbre, likewise musical tones and noises may be distinguished among them.

Linguistic aspect. Sp them the subject of linguistic observation. It’s very important to determine in what ways sp sounds can function as significant sound units or phonemes. And to determine its significant role in the l.

 

 

Physical properties of sounds.

Sp sounds have a number of physical properties.

Frequency. The vocal cords vibrate and when the vibrations are regular they produce the acoustic impression of voice/ musical tone. When they are irregular, noise is produced. There are some combinations of tone and noise. When tone prevails- sonorants are produced, when noise prevails- voiced consonants. Changes in fundamental frequency are used to produce intonation. The ossylation of the parts of the vibrator produces overtones. The vibrations producing overtones are regular. Overtones play a great role in the formation of vowel sounds. They determine the quantity of the sounds. The vocal cords is not the only source of vibration. The noise that we hear comes from the friction of the air particles which pass through constriction in some point in the respiratory tract. So we have constrictive consonants. Another source of high frequency is a sudden burst of air <t,k> when we have a complete closure of organs of sp and we have to explode this closure to produce sound. The frequency depends on physical properties of the vibrator – mass, length and tension of vocal cords. Thicker and heavier- lower voices; thiner and lighter- higher. The higher the pitch of vibrations, the higher the pitch level. The typical speaking voice of a man lower than of a woman because the vocal cords of woman vibrate more frequently.

Intensity. Changes in intensity are perceived as vibrator in the loudness of sound. The greater the amplitude of vibration, greater the intensity of a sound, the greater the pressure on the eardrums, the louder the sound. Intensity is measured in decibels.

Duration. Any sound has duration, i.e. its length or quantity of time during which the same vibratory motion is performed.

 

 

The organs of speech and their functions: Active and passive organs of speech; The articulatory mechanism and its work.

There are four cavities in out speech tract. They are: the nasal cavity, the mouth cavity, the pharynx and the larynx. They are empty spaces and function as resonators.

The organs of speech that can move and change their position are called active. They are: the lips, the tongue, the soft palate, the uvula, the vocal cords and the lungs. They take an active part in the articulation of speech sounds. They change the form and size of the resonators.

The lips change the shape and size of the mouth opening. They can be rounded or unrounded.

The bulk of the tongue can move horizontally and vertically. The movements of the tongue change the volume and the shape of the mouth resonator and different sounds are produced.

For the purposes of phonetics the tongue is divided into the following parts: the tip of the tongue, the blade of the tongue, the front of the tongue, the back of the tongue and the root of the tongue.

When the tongue is at rest, the blade with the tip lies opposite the alveolar ridge, the front of the tongue is opposite the hard palate, the back of the tongue is opposite the soft palate and the root of the tongue is opposite the back wall of the pharynx.

The soft palate with the uvula separate the mouth cavity from the nasal cavity. The uvula regulates the way of the stream of air in speech. When the uvula is raised, the stream of air goes out through the mouth cavity. When the uvula is lowered, the stream of the air goes out through the nasal cavity.

The vocal cords are the two muscles by the sides of the larynx. The space between the vocal cords is called the glottis. When the vocal cords are tense, they are brought close together, the stream of air touches them, makes them vibrate and they produce voice. When the vocal cords are lax, the stream of air goes out freely and no voice is produced; when they do not vibrate voiceless consonants are produced.

When we speak, the lungs push the stream of air out.

The passive organs are teeth, the alveoli and the hard palate. They are fixed and serve as places of articulation.

Speech is impossible without the following 4 mechanisms. The power mechanism. The diaphragm, the lungs, the bronchi, the windpipe, the glottis, the larynx, the mouth cavity, the nasal cavity. The functions: supplying in the form of air pressure, regulating the force of the air stream. The airstream provided by the lungs undergoes important modifications in other places of respiratory tract. The vibrator mechanism. It’s housed in larynx. When the air is exhaled from the lungs it’s led under the pressure into larynx through windpipe. Larynx is situated in the upper part of windpipe. The pitch of the voice is controlled by the tension of vocal cords. Voice produced by the vocal cords vibrations is modified by the shape and volume of the air passage. Each of the functions depends on the position and the shape of the glottis. In ordinary sp the glottis is freely open, the glottis is more opened in inhaling than exhaling. The resonator mechanism. Pharynx, larynx, mouth and nasal cavity. The air stream which has passed through the larynx is now subjected to further modifications acc to the shape assumed by the superglottal cavities. The obstructer mechanism. Tongue, lips, teeth, soft palate, uvula, hard palate, alveolar ridge. They serve to make some obstruction to the air stream. The 4 mechanisms work simultaneously and each speech sound is the result of their simultaneous work.