Physiology of Articulation Ch. 7

Articulation The process of joining two elements together Articulatory system is the system of mobile and immobile articulators brought into contact for the purpose of shaping the sounds of speech What happens to the sound after it reaches the oral cavity Sounds=phonemes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTOhDqhCKQs

Source Filter Theory of Vowel Production Voice is generated by the vocal folds and routed through the vocal tract where it is shaped into the sounds of speech Changes in the shape and configuration of the tongue, mandible, soft palate and other articulators govern the resonance characteristics of the vocal tract, and the resonances of the tract determine the sound of a given vowel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx5KNQYY_cg

Resonant frequency When you move your tongue around in your mouth, you are changing the shape of your oral cavity, making it smaller or larger, lengthening or shortening. Change the shape of the oral cavity= change the resonant frequency=change the sound that comes out of the mouth Vowels- source will always be phonation Consonants- sources will include turbulence of frication or combination of voicing and turbulence

Resonant frequency Say the words “he” and “who” Share with your partner what is happening with your tongue, mandible, lips when you say each of these words.

Production of /s/ , /sh/ Share with your friend the placement of your tongue for an /s/ sound and how it changes for the /sh/ sound Be prepared to share

Speech Function Speech production requires execution of an extremely well-organized and integrated sequence of neuromotor events Say the word “Tube” Tongue elevates to alveolar ridge while simultaneously elevating and tensing the velum Air pressure builds up behind the tongue Tongue actively drops to release the pressure and produce the /t/ As it releases it quickly retracts to produce the /u/ assisted by the rounding of your lips Lips then close tightly with buildup of air pressure for the final /b/ All of this happens in less than 3/10 of a second and we don’t even think about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvvn-ZVdeqQ

Lips Lower lip achieves a greater velocity and force than the upper lip and seems to do most of the work in lip closure The extra force is due to the mentalis muscle Lower lip is attached to a movable articulator- the mandible Lower lip is capable of rapidly altering its rate of closure Lips are amazingly resistant to interference- they adjust and accommodate to physical restraints Experiment on bottom of p. 378 with tongue depressors

Mandible A helper Assists the lips Changes position for tongue movement Tightly closes when necessary Supportive role of carrying the lips, tongue, and teeth to their targets in the maxilla Adjustments are rather small Muscles of mandibular elevation are endowed with muscle spindles- reflexes within the jaw Very important for mastication- mandible elevates, grinds laterally and then depresses in a rhythmic fashion For speech- mandible elevates and depresses with slight modifications, quick adjustments

Tongue It is the most important of the articulators Involved in the production of the majority of the phonemes Tongue tip elevation /t/, /d/ Tongue tip depression /k/, /g/ Tongue tip deviation, left and right Lateral margins relaxation /l/ Tongue narrowing Central tongue grooving Retraction Protrusion Posterior Tongue elevation /k/ Tongue body depression https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LGkbvkCS3I

Velum Closed for non-nasal speech Open for nasal sounds /n/, /m/, /ng/ Opens and closes in coordination with other articulators avoiding the effect of nasal resonance on other phonemes Production of high pressure consonants requires greater velopharyngeal effort- superior pharyngeal constrictor and uvular muscles assist /v/, /d/, /b/ Hard and soft palate are richly endowed with receptors that provide feedback concerning pressure and they facilitate or inhibit motor lingual activity

Articulatory Development The development of articulation is a hierarchy and based on motor control The infant must balance muscle tone before being able to sit He must sit before he can establish independent head and neck control With the control of the neck muscles comes freedom to move the mandible and tongue independently Starts with babbling where they just have to open and close the mouth /m/,/b/, /p/ and vowels Progressively increases ability to articulate more difficult sounds /s/, /z/, /th/.

Vocal Tract Development Infant size 6-8 cm from lips to vocal folds Adult size 15-18 cm from lips to vocal folds As the infant grows The nasopharynx enlarges and becomes more sharply angled Oral and pharyngeal cavities grow Tongue descends Oropharyngeal space increases Length and depth of mandible increases to accommodate the tongue Reaches adult oral cavity size by age of 7-18 years.

Coordinated Articulation Speech is the most complex sequential motor task performed by humans Conceptual System We must first develop the idea to be expressed The idea represents the sentence to be spoken The idea must be mapped into a syntactical system, establish language forms acceptable to match the concept “Tomorrow is Monday” is an idea that is chosen and the words have been chosen to fit the syntax Phonological System Phonological rules are applied to establish the correct phoneme combinations to meet the needs of the words “Tomorrow is Monday” is further broken down into syllables, phonemes and features of the phonemes /T/ is a lingua-alveolar stop, voiceless sound

Coordinated Articulation Muscle Movement system Muscles are activated to meet the needs of the feature selection process /T/ now becomes movement of the muscles of the tongue that will produce the lingua alveolar gesture (superior longitudinal and genioglossus muscles) Coarticulation: Overlapping effect of one articulatory pattern on another

Coarticulation in running speech Overlapping effect of one articulatory gesture on another /see/ and /sue/ lips are retracted and lips are rounded