READING & ACTIVITIES: Voice and the Organs of Speech

Introduction to phonetics (including voice and the organs of speech) READING NOTES 1
_____________________________________________________________________ 1 What is phonetics? Articulatory phonetics = anatomy of the vocal tract + movement of the articulators (organs of speech) also called speech production. physics (speech waveforms) the physical nature of speech sounds also called the physics of speech. psychology and hearing (hearing and identifying speech sounds as in ear-training + how speech sounds are actually heard) also called speech perception.

Acoustic phonetics

Auditory phonetics

2 How does phonetics relate to phonology? PHONETICS Concrete: Like computer hardware: mechanical and visible. Practical: Obviously, there is theory involved here but it is theory about empirically verifiable facts about empirical and practical issues. Identifies and describes speech data, supplying data and facts for phonology. Example: English has two different l-sounds or lphones, e.g. Zk\ the first sound in like Z4\ the last sound in kill. PHONOLOGY Abstract: Like computer software: instructional, explanatory and invisible. Theoretical: Often fairly abstract theorising sometimes even philosophical in nature seeking explanations for sound patterns and alternations. Analyses, orders (and seeks to explain) data and facts from phonetics. Example: English has only one l-sound unit or l-phoneme, e.g. .k. as in like, kill, etc. (If I say Z4\ike I simply sound rather American, but I am still saying the same word like; if I say kiZk\+ I may sound like a German speaker of English saying the word kill in both cases I sound rather different or odd, but the words dont change their meaning.)
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Scope: Phonetics is concerned with accents and with pronunciation and with how we manage to make the different noises at all it is interested exclusively in what speakers sound like. Allophones: Different phones (sounds) used to pronounce a single phoneme are called allophones of that phoneme. Zk\ and Z4\ are allophones of the phoneme .k. in English. Representation of data: Phonetic transcriptions are presented in square brackets: []

Scope: Phonology is concerned with contrasts (am I saying kill or bill, like or mike?) structure, patterns and organisation of sounds it has no interest at all in what these actually sound like! Phonemes: Phonologists call the abstract units they are interested in phonemes or segments.

Representation of data: Phonemic (or broad phonetic) transcriptions are presented in slant brackets: //

3 The IPA chart To understand how to read this grid, you need to know a few things about how speech sounds are actually made. In Block 1, we will look at two concepts: voice and organs of speech. 4 The larynx and voice production The larynx The glottis is the space between the vocal folds; the vocal folds are like two curtains hanging down inside the larynx; the vocal folds join vertically down the inside of the thyroid (shield) cartilage at the front of the larynx structure and one to each aretynoid cartilage at the back; the aretynoids and the thyroid cartilage are positioned on top of the cricoid (ring) cartilage (the last cartilage at the top of the trachea (wind pipe). Location of the larynx (Picture after LADEFGED, P (2005, 5th edition) Course in Phonetics. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers. Hereafter CIP.)

larynx
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For those of you who are a bit unsure about quite where your larynx is, it is inside your neck, at the bottom of your throat the visible indicator is the protuberance of the thyroid cartilage that we know in lay language as our Adams apple.

Thyroid cartilage (= front wall of larynx structure; hyoid) bone and epiglottis would all be above this)

View of the larynx from behind

Thyroid cartilage

View of the larynx from in front (on top of the trachea)

Voice production To produce normal voice (also called chest voice and modal voice), the vocal folds are adducted (drawn together) and held gently closed. Controlled expulsion of lung air begins and forces an air-stream up the trachea where, at the top, it meets a resistance (obstacle) in the form of the closed vocal folds (image 1, below). Air pressure from the lungs (sub-glottal pressure/pressure from below the glottis) increases, pushing against the folds and starting to separate them at the bottom (image 2, below; remember they have depth, like a pair of curtains). Controlled expulsion of air continues and the column of air (the air-stream) continues pushing (image 3), gradually forcing the folds apart in depth (image 4). When the air reaches the top, there is no further resistance and, still under pressure from the lungs, it accelerates out of the top of the larynx, leaving a drop in pressure behind it where the vocal folds then almost snap back together (images 5 and 6), first at the bottom (image 6) and then, by degrees, in depth (images 7 and 8; following the tail end of the exiting airflow). This closing movement is partly elastic (remember, they are being deliberately held together, so they are now snapping back to that position when they are no
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longer being forced apart by the airstream, like letting go of a stretch piece of elastic) and partly suction (the loss of air pressure between the folds as the airflow suddenly accelerates through this is called the Bernoulli effect). But controlled expulsion of air from the lungs goes on and so the whole cycle starts again with the folds gradually opening and then, when the pressure drops, being sucked back together again. In this way, successive small bursts of lung air are emitted as the vocal folds continue to open and close (or vibrate). You can see this opening-closing motion in the following diagrams. You can see that the folds open from the bottom to the top and then close again from the bottom to the top. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Vibratory cycle of the larynx (Images adapted from CLARK, J and YALLOP, C (1990) An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology. Oxford: Blackwell.) Different adjustments of the way in which the folds and aretynoids are held (states of the glottis or glottal settings) result in different voice types. Note that voiceless sounds (where the passage of air is continuous) have greater/stronger air-flow than voiced ones (where the flow is broken up into successive small bursts).

Different states of the glottis can be represented schematically by adapting this diagram (a view of the larynx from above). The glottis is the space between the vocal folds. (Image from COLLINS B and MEES I (2003 Practical Phonetics and Phonology. London: Routledge hereafter PPP.)

Understanding the larynx waveform In images 1-8 above you can see one complete sequence of movements from
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closed vocal folds, through opening and back to closed again. This sequence is called a cycle and repeats over and over again to create the sound we call normal voice. The number of times the cycle repeats in one second is called the fundamental frequency (Fx). The average Fx for men is between 100Hz and 120Hz. Womens voices are about an octave higher and their average Fx is between 200Hz and 240 Hz. The vibrations are too rapid to be seen by the human eye! (If you want to see them, you have to use a stroboscopic light source.) Lx, like all sounds, has a waveform. The peaks in the waveform are the fully closed points in the cycle, corresponding to images 1 and 8. This wave form is called the larynx waveform (Lx). The shape repeats itself for long as the vibratory cycles continue.

Lx Larynx waveform (Image from ASHBY & MAIDMENT 2005)

Waveforms with repeating patterns of this kind are called periodic waveforms. One cycle is one period. You can measure how long a cycle or period takes to be completed in fractions of a second or (ms) and this gives is called the periodic time (T). Periodic waveforms are of two kinds: simple and complex. Lx is a complex waveform. You can tell this by looking at it because it has a slightly irregular sort of shape in the case of LX, it has a kind of triangular-looking shape. Some complex waveforms are much, much more complicated than Lx (vowel waveforms, for example, are very complex by comparison). All complex waveforms can be deconstructed into a number of so-called simple waveforms or sinewaves. These just have a smoothing curving line. The deeper the curve, the greater the amplitude of the sound (related to loudness and measured in decibels, dB) and the more curves that occur in any given interval of time, the greater the frequency (f, related to perceived pitch and measured in kilohertz, kHz). Below are some sinewaves (from HAYWARD, K (2000) Experimental Phonetics. London: Longman) with these different characteristics study them carefully and look for the differences of frequency and loudness described.

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Selection of sinewaves

5 States of the glottis or glottal settings (All images in this section from PPP.) Open glottis (voiceless sounds) The open glottis is the most usual way of achieving voicelessness in a speech sound. The vocal folds are held wide apart as shown in the diagram above much as for normal breathing and the egressive pulmonic airstream passes through without interference. This is the state of the glottis associated with sounds such as: Zj\ voiceless velar plosive ZB\ voiceless palatal fricative ZsR\ voiceless palatoalveolar affricate Zl\ voiceless bilabial nasal English has a number of voiceless consonants: Zo s j e S r R g sR\

Closed glottis (glottal stop) The vocal folds are drawn tightly together in depth and resist pressure from the
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sub-glottal egressive pulmonic air-flow. This is the state of the glottis required for the production of: a) the glottal stop (voiceless glottal plosive), Z>\. b) ejective consonants such as the voiceless bilabial ejective plosive Zo\+the voiceless alveolar ejective fricative Zr\, the voiceless alveolar ejective lateral affricate ZsJ\, etc. In these sounds, the closed glottis acts as the initiator for the egressive glottalic or pharyngeal airstream, airstream causing brief expulsion of air from the pharynx when the larynx containing the tightly closed folds is rapidly raised in a piston-like movement.

Narrowed glottis Narrowing of the space between the vocal folds by pulling the folds towards each other but not near enough to cause closure causes the egressive pulmonic airstream to become turbulent. This turbulent air travels through the supra-glottal cavities and is perceived as voiceless [h]-like friction. Vibrating vocal folds When the vocal folds are drawn together in depth, closing the glottis, but not so firmly as to resist the pressure of the egressive pulmonic airstream, the passage of this air through between the folds causes them to vibrate. This is the state of the glottis in the production of normal voice or chest voice. This is the type of voice used for the majority of voiced speech sounds. Voicing is the usual characteristic of vowels (although some languages, Japanese for example, do use voiceless ones as well) and approximant consonants (although again some languages, Burmese for example, also use voiceless approximants). As well as its vowels, English has a range of voiced consonants: Za c f u C y Y l m M v k i\-

Vocal fold vibration is also used to produce pitch change (in lexical pitch and intonation). The slower the rate of vibration, the lower the pitch that will be heard. Whisper and breathy voice The glottal setting for whisper involves drawing the vocal folds into a firmly closed position but leaving the aretynoids open; voiceless air passes through the opening
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between the aretynoids. The glottal setting for breathy voice is similar to that associated with whisper except that the vocal folds are held less firmly together and vibrate; air passing through the vibrating folds adds voicing to the breathy (whisper) quality of the air which is passing simultaneously through the open aretynoids. This is the state of the glottis required for the so-called voiced glottal fricative Z\ and for the murmured stops or voiced aspirates of many Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages. Breathy voice is denoted by the addition of a dierisis below the symbol, e.g. Z@\-

Creak and creaky voice Creak is produce when the vocal folds are drawn together as if forZ>\ but allowed to vibrate extremely slowly at the very front. This is not widely used in languages, but when combined with the rest of the folds vibrating normally, creating an effect known as creaky voice, it has much more widespread use. You hear creaky voice

very often at the end of falling intonation tunes in English (and even in the middle low section of a fall-rise); creaky voice is used in Danish where is it called std; etc. These relationship between these different states of the glottis can be summarised as follows (diagram reproduced from PPP):

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READING & ACTIVITIES: Voice and the Organs of Speech

6 Application of knowledge about voicing Phoneticians use their knowledge about the voicing of speech sounds to draw voicing diagrams. You can already begin to practice this technique. Job 1 First, determine which of the English consonants on your phoneme list are voiced and which are voiceless. Say each sound aloud and listen can you hear voice? If you are not sure, rest your fingers gently on the front of your throat can you feel any vibration? Another test is to put your fingers in your ears and see if you can hear a buzz or if there is just some kind of percussive or mechanical noise if there is a buzz, the sound is voiced. Fill in the following blanks to complete the five pairs of Standard Southern British English voiceless-voiced consonant sounds: ______ VVVVV voiceless voiced o c j u S C r Y g l m M v q k i

Job 2 Once you have decided which sounds belong to which category (voiceless or voiced) you can apply this knowledge to a type of parametric diagram which shows the voicing of an utterance. For example, in the utterance answer, the structure is VCCV (where V represents a vowel sound and C represents a consonant sound) and all are voiced, except the second C. A voicing diagram of this utterance would look like this:

answer

@9

?
VVVV

VVVV VVVV

In the utterance since, the structure is CVCC and the first and last sounds are voiceless while the middle two are voiced:

since

VVVV VVVV

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Using the examples as models, complete the following diagrams to show the voicing behaviour in each utterance.

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itself

!r

face

dH

Note that in each diagram, we show the vocal folds extending beyond the limits of the utterance itself they exist even when we are not speaking. 3

office

!P

fussy

!e

machine [

!R

h9

revision [

!u

7 Jugoslavia

t9

?T

!r

@9

h?

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mushroom [

!l

l ]

9 indigenous [

!c

cY

10 remarkable

!l @9

Job 3 Draw parametric diagrams showing the action of the vocal folds for the following utterances. (Always check in LPD to see that you have transcribed them correctly first.) anything, father, himself, laughing, before

Summary The larynx is a largely cartilaginous structure at the bottom of a speakers throat inside of which are two membranous masses, the vocal folds. Activity of the vocal folds contributes to voice production in speech; the larynx is identified as the phonatory (voice producing) mechanism in speech production. Rate of vibration of the vocal folds contributes to intonation. Closure and narrowing of the vocal folds contribute to consonantal manner of articulation. The larynx is also instrumental in the initiation of glottalic/pharyngeal air-stream mechansisms.

7 The organs of speech Apart from its role in voice production and the initiation of air-streams. the larynx is also the innermost speech organ in the vocal tract itself. The organs of speech are all anatomical organs with primary, life-supporting, biological functions. None are specifically tools of speech production. Speech makes use of everything in the vocal tract from the larynx structure and the epiglottis to the pharynx, parts of the upper palate (roof) of the mouth, parts of the tongue, teeth and lips as well as the nasal cavities. Obviously the primary functions of all these organs are concerned not with speech but with breathing,
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smelling, biting, tasting, chewing, and swallowing. It is mans unique creativeness that has put them to the parallel use of speaking. The glottis is a defining boundary in the anatomy and physiology of speech. Everything below the glottis is termed sub-glottal (the trachea, lungs and musculature involved in the production of the egressive pulmonic air-stream that we most commonly use in speech). Everything above the glottis is termed supraglottal (spaces such as the pharynx or pharyngeal cavity, the mouth or oral cavity and the nose or nasal cavities are know collectively as the supra-glottal cavities). The most productive and active cavity in speech is the oral cavity. All parts of this cavity are utilized when speaking. The immovable upper jaw contains organs which can be collectively termed passive articulators while those associating with the moveable lower jaw are termed active articulators. The most active and flexible of all is the tongue. The following image is adapted from SS. The diagram is a section through the head (sometimes known affectionately as a Sammy!) showing the outline of the parts of the vocal tract that are used in speech production. The technical name for vocal tract drawings like this is mid-sagittal section literally, a section or slice through the mid-line of the head. A number of the organs shown in this diagram can be moved voluntarily or deliberately. The most obvious are the lips and the tongue. The soft-palate or velum can also be moved in an up-down or raised-lowered motion which is important for what is called manner of articulation (see Block 3). But the most flexible of all the organs is the tongue and for that reason we need to consider it more closely.

Articulators above this line are PASSIVE articulators

Articulators below this line are ACTIVE articulators

The organs of speech

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The tongue is a complex muscular structure and has tremendous flexibility and finesse of movement. Some parts of the tongue are more flexible than others. The tip and blade, for example, are extremely flexible, being unattached to the rest of the mouth. They can adopt a huge range of positions and can also operate relatively independently of, say, the back of the tongue this gives the tongue the potential for doing two different things at the same time! As well as the different points of the tongue from front to back: tip or apex, blade, front, centre, back, root), the side rims of the tongue are also independently and voluntarily moveable and they must also be taken into consideration when describing the production of speech sounds. The following image of the tongue is also taken from SS.

Parts of the tongue

Summary The organs of speech all have other primary biological functions. Organs can be divided into active (those that move) and passive (those that remain (relatively) static). Passive organs include: upper lip and teeth, the alveolar ridge, the palate (hard and soft). Active organs include: the lower lip and all parts of the tongue (the tip/apex, blade, front, centre, back, root and side-rims). The larynx is also an important speech organ.

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