English speech sounds

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THE ENGLISH
SPEECH SOUNDS:
The Vowels and
Consonants

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WHAT ARE SPEECH
SOUNDS?
HOW DO WE MAKE
ENGLISH SPEECH SOUNDS?

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Speech sounds
• Refer to the sounds we produce in oral
communication.
• are the basis of differences in defining a word or
group of words.
•These sounds are generally classified into segmentals
and suprasegmentals.
•Vowels, consonants, diphthongs, and triphthongs are
classified as segmentals.
•Stress, pitch, and juncture fall under suprasegmentals.

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Speech sounds
TAKE NOTE!
•Since language is intended to be spoken, then
it, by all means, basically an oral activity.
•The basic component of any language is a
system of sounds.

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Speech sounds
SOUNDS – are the core of a
language

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THE HUMAN SPEECH MECHANISM
Elements of a language
Morpheme
-Is the smallest
feature of
expression
Ex. U + n = UN
Words and
meanings
(Vocabulary)
Phoneme – is the
smallest feature of
expression
Ex. t, b,

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The human speech mechanism
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW SPEECH SOUNDS
ARE PRODUCED?
HOW MANY PARTS OF THE HUMAN ARE ACTIVELY
INVOLVED IN SPEECH PRODUCTION?

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The human speech mechanism

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FOUR PROCESSES IN SPEECH
PRODUCTION
1.RESPIRATION
2.PHONATION
3.ARTICULATION
4.RESONANCE

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FOUR PROCESSES IN SPEECH
PRODUCTION
1.RESPIRATION
-Provides the energy for sound
-Exhilation
-Inhalation

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FOUR PROCESSES IN SPEECH
PRODUCTION
2. Phonation
•Phonation is the rapid opening and closing of the vocal
folds for sound
•the vocal folds lie horizontally in the larynx
•the opening in the middle of the vocal folds is the
GLOTTIS

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FOUR PROCESSES IN SPEECH
PRODUCTION
3. Articulation
-Serves to produce the different configurations which
make up the different speech sounds
- it is the process through which we can differentiate
most speech sounds.

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FOUR PROCESSES IN SPEECH
PRODUCTION
4. Resonance
-The speech mechanism is a resonator -- it is like an
air-filled tube (closed on one end and open at the
other end)
the fundamental frequency generated at the vocal
folds is resonated in the vocal tract that is now also
vibrating -- the vibration of the vocal tract is the
HARMONIC FREQUENCY

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Respirators Vibrators Articulators Resonators
Lungs
Trachea
Diaphragm
Abdominal
muscles
Rib cage
Larynx or voice
box or vocal
cords or vocal
folds
Upper and lower
lips
Upper and lower
teeth
Gum ridge
Hard palate
Soft palate or
velum
Tongue
Lowe jaw
Mouth or buccal
cavity
pharynx
Nasal cavity
uvula

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The human speech mechanism model
Inhalation muscle contraction exhalation
vibrators trachea diaphragm
sound wave articulation resonators

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The human speech mechanism
Speech production is closely linked to the breathing
process which manifests in INHALATION or breathing in and
EXHILATION or breathing out. It is when air is expelled from
the lungs during exhilation that we may produce speech
sounds.
The air which has been deposited earlier in the tiny air
sacs in the lungs through inhalation is pushed out with the help
of the diaphragm, abdominal muscles and rib cage. From the
lungs, the air goes out through the bronchi then moves up
through the trachea, until it reaches the larynx, a box-like
structure to which vocal cords or vocal folds are attached.

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The human speech mechanism

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The human speech mechanism
The force of the air coming from the trachea and the
contraction of the abdominal muscles cause the vocal folds to
vibrate. The result is the production of sound waves.
These sound waves do not constitute speech yet. It is
when they are modified or given distinct and final shape by the
articulators then they can be called speech sounds.
As the speech sounds are articulated, they are amplified
or reinforced by the resonators . When the two cavities are
partially blocked, as when one has a bad cold, the voice has
poor quality.