Phonetics: The scientific study of the way speech sounds

are produced by our vocal organs, the way they are

perceived by the listeners and the way different sounds are
combined into syllables, words and sentences is known as
phonetics.
There are three branches of phonetics which study various
aspects of sound production. They are:
Articulatory Phonetics: This is the branch of phonetics
which deals with the articulation,i.e the production of
speech sounds.
Acoustic Phonetics: This branch deals with the
acoustics of sound waves used for communication;
it studies various properties of speech signals like
amplitude and frequency and their effects on the
transmission and reception of sounds.
Auditory Phonetics: This area is concerned with the
reception and comprehension of phonetic sounds.
THE LUNGS
The lungs play a vital role in the production of speech
sounds. When we breathe in, air travels down through the
trachea, expanding the lungs and once air is exhaled, the
lungs come back to their normal size. Since the lungs are
enclosed within the ribcage and are bound by the
diaphragm, also play a role in the movement of air in and
out of the lungs.
The lungs expand when the ribs are raised and the
diaphragm is lowered.
During this process the lungs are filled with air.

This process is reversed when the muscles raising the ribs
are relaxed and the diaphragm also relaxes: the lungs
come back to their normal size and consequently air is
exhaled.
Moving air ,known as an airstream ,is essential for the
production of sounds. When the air is obstructed or forced
to pass through a constructed space by manipulating the
air stream we are able to produce audible sounds.
The larynx lies behind the prominence in the throat and is
often called the Adams Apple. The larynx protrudes
visibly only in men. It is box made up of two cartilages, the
thyroid and the cricoid cartilages, and is attached to the
top of trachea.
All air which is inhaled or exhaled has to pass through the
larynx.
There is another pair of cartilages which is mounted on
the thyroid cartilage, called the artenoid cartilage. Inside
the larynx there are two thick muscular flaps, resembling
a pair of lips.
These muscular folds are called the vocal cords or vocal
folds.
At the front the vocal folds are joined to each other and
are also fixed to the thyroid cartilage. At the back these
vocal folds are attached to the arytenoid cartilage.
The mechanism is such that if the arytenoid cartilage
moves, the vocal folds move as well.
The rotation of the arytenoids a cartilage and their sliding
apart along the thyroid cartilage open a 3D triangular
space between the inner edges of the vocal folds. This
space is called the glottis.


The primary biological function of the larynx is to control
the passage of air to and from the lungs while breathing. It
also prevents food and liquids from accidentally entering
the lungs.
At the same time, the larynx capable of producing
different modes of phonation.
Phonation is the use of the laryngeal system to generate an
audible source of acoustic energy with the help of an air
stream provided by the respiratory system, Which can be
modified by the articulatory action of the rest of the vocal
apparatus.
The space between the vocal folds is called the glottis.
When the vocal folds are spread apart, we say that the
glottis is open, and when the vocal folds are pressed
together, we say that the glottis is closed.
The opening, the closing and the intermediary states of the
vocal folds Play a vital role in the production of speech.
Four main states of the glottis are wide open, narrow
glottis, glottis in vibration and closed glottis.
1. Wide open: when the vocal folds are wide open, as in
normal breathing, the resulting sounds are said to be
voiceless; like /p/ and /t/ in English.
2. Narrow glottis: the vocal folds are brought close
together but not so close as to create vibration. The
airstream is non the less, restricted resulting in
fricative sounds like /h/, a voiceless glottal fricative and
in whispers.
3. Glottis in vibration: When the edges of the vocal folds
touch each other ,they cause vibration in the glottis.
During the process the air passes between them in a
series of rapid, tiny puffs producing voiced sounds
such as /b/ ,/d/ ,/g/ and so on. The vibration in the vocal
folds constitutes what is commonly known as
phonation.

4. Closed glottis: When the vocal folds are firmly
pressed together so that air cannot pass between them ,
we say that the glottis is closed . This happens in speech
when we produce the glottal or plosive represented by /?/
The pharynx connects
the larynx to the oral
cavity. The Pharynx
branches into two
cavities, the nasal and
the oral. The pharynx is
about 7cm long in
women and 8cm long in
men.
The tongue is a fleshy
,muscular structure. It is
most flexible of the
articulators. . It is divided
into four parts: the tip, the
blade, the front and the
back. The number of
vowels is produced with the
help of the tongue. Vowels
differ from each other
because of the position of
the tongue.
They play an important role in the production of speech
sounds. They can be either firmly closed as in the initial
sound of pin and bin or partially closed as in the initial
sound in wet.
The lips can be completely rounded as the vowel sound in
fool or partially rounded as in the vowel sound of got.
They are situated at the front of the mouth and
immediately behind the lips .
The tongue can touch them at many points. Some sounds
are made when the tongue touches the upper teeth ; for
instance ,the initial consonant sound in three and this.
these sounds are called dental sounds.
The lip also can be brought into contact with the upper
teeth to produce sounds like the initial sounds in fit and
van. These sounds are labiodental sounds.
The alveolar ridge is the part between the upper teeth and
the hard palate. The sound produced with the tongue
touching the alveolar ridge is called alveolar sounds, e.g.
/s/, /t/, /d/, etc.

There is a hard,
concave area
immediately behind
the teeth ridge and
before the velum in
the oral cavity. This
is called the hard
plate. The palate is
called the roof of the
mouth
It is also known as the soft palate, is the soft muscular
portion behind the hard palate.
If the velum is raised, the only escape for the air is through
the mouth and if it is lowered air can escape both from the
mouth and the nose.
When the velum is lowered and the oral passage is closed,
the air escapes through the nasal cavity producing sounds
like /m/ /n/ and //
In speech when the velum is raised there is said to be velic
closure.
The final sound in tick and the initial sounds in kin and good
are called velar sounds. Because the velum is raised during
articulation.
It is the small hanging protuberance dangling
at the back of the mouth which can be seen if
we open our mouth wide and keep the body
of the tongue low in the mouth.
The uvula vibrates during r sound in many
French dialects.