1. The Vocal Tract and Initiation of Speech: Anatomy and Physiology

2. Outline The vocal tract and articulatory organs
The airstream mechanisms
The state of the vocal cords
Velum position
Places of articulation
Manners of articulation
The articulation of vowels
Classification of speech sounds
Consonants vs. Vowels
Suprasegmental features

3. The vocal tract and articulatory organs
Articulators are those parts of the vocal tract which can be used to produce speech sounds.
Alveolar ridge /'æl'vıele(r)/ – a small protuberance that you can feel with the tip of the tongue
Hard palate – the front part of the roof of the mouth formed by a bony structure
Velum /'vilem/ (soft palate) – further back at the back of the mouth, a muscular flap that can be raised to press against the back wall of the pharynx and to form „velic closure” which prevents the air escaping through the nose when producing nasal sounds
Uvula /'juvjula/– a small appendage /a'pendıdZ/ hanging down at the lower end of the soft palate
Pharynx – part of the vocal tract between the uvula and the larynx
Trachea - /tre'kija/
Tongue:
Tip and blade (środkowa część języka) – the most mobile parts
Front of the tongue – the forward part of the body of the tongue underneath the hard palate
Center of the tongue – partly underneath the hard palate and partly underneath the soft palate
back of the tongue - underneath the soft palate
Root – opposite the back wall of the pharynx
Epiglottis – attached to the lower part of the root of the tongue

4. The airstream mechanisms
Airflow initiator
Airflow direction
language
Pulmonic egressive
lungs
outwards
Most languages, for many it is the sole AM
Velaric ingressive
velum
inwards
Zulu (S. Africa)
Glottalic egressive
glottis
Navajo (N. America)
Glottalic ingressive
Sindhi (India)
Various types of AM depending on the place of the initiation of the airflow and its direction
pulmonic - airflow initiator /ı'nı∫ıeıt(r)/: respiratory system, lungs
Velaric – velum
Glottalic - glottis
Egressive – most common is to flow out from the lungs through the trachea (windpipe), larynx (in the Adam’s apple) and vocal tract (mouth and nose)
Ingressive – the air moves inwards

5. The state of the vocal cords
Voiceless sounds: /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /s/, /ɕ/, /ʃ/, /x/, /t^s/, /t^ɕ/, /t^ʃ/
Voiced sounds: all vowels, sonorants and /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /ʑ/, /ʒ/, /d^z/, /d^ʑ/, /d^ʒ/ …
(the bottom of the diagram corresponds to the front of the larynx)
The air is pushed from the lungs and it moves up the trachea into the larynx – there the airflow encounters vocal cords.
Vocal cords are two small muscular folds that take different position and modify the passage of the airflow.
The space between the vocal cords – glottis.
Glottis opened (the cords are far apart) – the air from the lungs has a relatively free passage into the pharynx and the mouth – voiceless sounds
Vocal cords are adjusted with only a narrow passage between them, the airstream will cause them to vibrate – voiced sounds

6. Velum position oral sound /b/ nasal sound /m/
The features of articulation that we are going to discuss now will refer to consonants, as they are significant for the distinction among various classes of consonantal sounds. Vowels will be discussed later.
In most speech the velum (soft palate) is raised so that there is a velic closure and the air is prevented from escaping through the nose.
However, the velum can also be lowered in which case the air goes through the nose and nasal sounds are formed.
So depending on whether the velum is raised or lowered we distinguish between oral and nasal sounds.
oral sound /b/
nasal sound /m/

7. Place of articulation (1)
Lips
Labial articulations
Tongue tip and blade
Coronal articulations
The back of the tongue
Dorsal articulations
The airstream which goes through the vocal tract must encounter some kind of an obstruction to form a consonantal sound.
Consonants are then classified depending on the place and manner of this obstruction known as place/manner of articulation.
Place of articulation refers to the horizontal relationship between the articulators. It specifies the position of the highest point of the active articulator in relation to the passive articulator (the latter gives the name to the place of articulation).
There are three major places of articulation: the lips, the tongue tip and blade and the back of the tongue.
We can distinguish three types of articulations depending on which of the three places is used: labial, coronal and dorsal articulations.

8. Places of articulation (2): Labial articulations
labial (lower and upper lip)
/b/ e.g. but, budka
/p/ e.g. ptak, kropki
/m/ e.g. most, pomost
/v/ e.g. wił, wył
/f/ e.g. fortuna
labiodental (lower lip and upper front teeth)
In order to specify articulatory gestures in sufficient detail for many phonetic purposes more specific places of articulation have to be distinguished.
Labial – (dwu)wargowe:
/p/, piec, chłopiec (intonacja wyrazowy, regularny akcent wyrazowy, A-BA)
/b/, but, budka (intonacja wyrazowy, regularny akcent wyrazowy, A-AB)
/m/ most, pomost (intonacja wyrazowy, regularny akcent wyrazowy, A-BA)
Labiodental – wargowo-zębowe:
/v/ wił, wył (samogłoski, kontrast /y/ - /i/)
/f/,

9. Places of articulation (3): Coronal articulations
Dental (tip of the tongue and upper teeth)
/t/ e.g. piątek
/d/ e.g. błędy
/n/ e.g. nóż
/θ/ e.g. moth
Post-dental (tip of the tongue, the upper teeth and the area just behind them)
In order to specify articulatory gestures in sufficient detail for many phonetic purposes more specific places of articulation have to be distinguished.
Dental – przedniojęzykowo-zębowe:
/s/ sąsiad (samogłoski nosowe, różna realizacje fonetyczne /ę/ /ą/ przed szczelinowymi)
/z/ język (samogłoski nosowe, różna realizacje fonetyczne /ę/ /ą/ przed szczelinowymi)
/t/ piątek (samogłoski nosowe, różna realizacje fonetyczne /ę/ /ą/ przed t, d i afrykatami)
/d/ błędy (samogłoski nosowe, różna realizacje fonetyczne /ę/ /ą/ przed t, d i afrykatami)
/t^s/ ręce (samogłoski nosowe, różna realizacje fonetyczne /ę/ /ą/ przed t, d i afrykatami)
/d^z/ pieniądze (samogłoski nosowe, różna realizacje fonetyczne /ę/ /ą/ przed t, d i afrykatami)
/n/ nóż, nóżka (intonacja wyrazowa, regularny akcent wyrazowy, A-AB)
Alveolar – przedniojęzykowo-dziąsłowe
/S/ mężczyzna (samogłoski nosowe, różna realizacje fonetyczne /ę/ /ą/ przed szczelinowymi)
/Z/ książę (samogłoski nosowe, różna realizacje fonetyczne /ę/ /ą/ przed szczelinowymi)
/t^S/ rączka, tęcza (samogłoski nosowe, różna realizacje fonetyczne /ę/ /ą/ przed t, d i afrykatami)
/d^Z/
/l/ walka, umywalka (intonacja wyrazowa, regularny akcent wyrazowy, A-CDAB)
/r/ rak, burak (intonacja wyrazowa, regularny akcent wyrazowy, A-BA)
/s/ e.g. sąsiad
/z/ e.g. język
/t^ɕ/ e.g. ręce
/d^ʑ/ e.g. pieniądze

10. Places of articulation (4): Coronal articulations
Alveolar (tongue tip and alveolar ridge)
PL:
/t^ʃ/ e.g. rączka, tęcza
/d^ʒ/ e.g. dżentelmen
/l/ e.g. walka
/r/ e.g. rak, burak
EN:
/s/ e.g. snake
/z/ e.g. zebra
/t/ e.g. tiger
/d/ e.g. dog
/ɾ/ e.g. better, ladder
Palato-alveolar (tongue blade and the back of the alveolar ridge)
/ʃ/ e.g. shrew
/ʒ/ e.g. measure
/t^ʃ/ e.g. chimpanzee
/d^ʒ/ e.g. lodger

11. Places of articulation (5): Coronal articulations
post-alveolar (the blade of the tongue and the front of the hard palate)
/ʃ/ e.g. szczęście
/ʒ/ e.g. książę
alveolo-palatal (the blade and the center of the tongue and the front of the hard palate)
/ɕ/ e.g. śnieg
/ʑ/ e.g. zwięźle
/t^ɕ/ e.g. pięć
/d^ʑ/ e.g. dźwięk
/ɲ/ e.g. mięsień
Palato-alveolar – środkowojęzykowo-przedniopodniebienne:
/s’/, mięsień (nosowe, różne realizacje ą i ę, przed ś, ź)
/z’/, zwięźle (nosowe, różne realizacje ą i ę, przed ś, ź)
/ts’/, pięć (nosowe, różne realizacje ą i ę, przed palatalnymi afrykatami)
/dz’/, sądzić (nosowe, różne realizacje ą i ę, przed palatalnymi afrykatami)
/n’/ (nie jestem pewna: przedniojęzykowo-podniebienna)
Palatal – przedniojęzykowo-zadziąsłowa
/l/ (przed /i/, /j/) lina, malina (intonacja wyrazowa, regularny akcent wyrazowy, A-CAB)
/r/ (przed /i/, /j/ np. w riksza)

12. Places of articulation (6): Coronal articulations
palatal (front of the tongue and hard palate)
/c/ e.g. kiedy
/ɟ/ e.g. giełda
/j/ e.g. jasny
retroflex (tongue tip and the back of the alveolar ridge)
EN (optionally):
/ʂ/ e.g. try
/ʐ/ e.g. dry

13. Places of articulation (7): Dorsal articulations
velar (tongue back and soft palate)
/x/ e.g. harcerz
/k/ e.g. kret, kredka
/g/ e.g. góry, kangury
/ŋ/ e.g. tango
uvular (tongue back and uvula), e.g. French „rat”
pharyngeal (tongue root and pharynx wall)
glottal (vocal cords are the active and passive articulator), e.g. PL:
nauka /naʔuka/
uiścić /ʔuʔiɕtɕitɕ/
o /ʔoʔ/ (only if pronounced in isolation)
Velar – tylnojęzykowo-podniebienne
/x/, harcerz (sonoranty, wymowa /r/ w zbitkach)
/k/, kret, kredka (intonacja wyrazowa, regularny akcent wyrazowy, A-AB)
/g/, góry, kangury (intonacja wyrazowa, regularny akcent wyrazowy, A-CAB)
/N/ tango (sonoranty, spółgłoski nosowe /N/)
Uvular
Pharyngeal
Glottal – krtaniowe, np. przed samogłoską w nagłosie

14. Manner of articulation (1)
It refers to the vertical relationship between the active and passive articulators.
Stops – complete closure of the articulators, the airstream can not escape through the mouth
Oral stops (examples from Polish, do not include all stops)*
Nasal stops (-> nasals): /m/, /n/, /ɲ/ and /ŋ/
Bilabial
/p/, /b/
Dental
/t/, /d/
Velar
/k/, /g/
Manner of articulation refers to the vertical relationship (the distance) between the active and passive articulators.
The articulators may approach each other to a different extent: they can become very close for an instant or a relatively longer period, they may narrow the space in the vocal tract to a different extent and modify the shape of the vocal tract.
We distinguish the following classes of consonants according to the manner of articulation:
Stops
Are speech sounds produced with a complete closure of the speech organs involved in their articulation so that the airstream can not escape through the mouth.
If the soft palate is raised and the nasal tract is blocked off then an oral stop will be produced. The pressure will built up in the oral cavity and when the articulators come apart the pressure will be released and a small burst will be heard.
In Polish there are three classes of oral stops: labial /p/, /b/, dental /t/, /d/ and velar /k/, /g/.
If the soft palate is lowered and the nasal tract is opened then a nasal stop will be produced.
It should be noted that the term stops is usually used in the meaning „oral stops”, whereas nasal stops are referred to as nasals.
Nasal stops in Polish – bilabial /m/, dental /n/, palato-alveolar /n’/ and velar /N/.

15. Manner of articulation (2)
Fricatives – close approximation of two articulators, the airstream is partially obstructed and turbulent airflow is produced.
(examples from Polish, do not include allophonic variants)
labiodental /f/, /v/
post-dental /s/, /z/
post-alveolar /ʃ/, /ʒ/
alveolo-palatal /ɕ/, /ʑ/
velar /x/
Affricates - involve more than one manner of articulation:
a combination of a stop followed by a fricative of the same place of articulation
(examples from Polish)
post-dental /t^s/, /d^z/
alveolar /t^ʃ/, /d^ʒ/
alveolo-palatal /t^ɕ/, /d^ʑ/
Fricatives are speech sounds produced with a partial closure of the speech organs involved in the articulation which form an obstruction and create a turbulent airflow.
/s/, /z/, /s’/, /z’/, /S/, /Z/, /f/, /v/

16. Manner of articulation (3)
Liquids – the articulators approach each other, but to such an extent that there is a free passage of air through the oral tract
Alveolar
/l/ , /r/, /ɾ/, /ɹ/
lateral /l/ – produced with a central obstruction – the air passes out at the side
trill /r/ – articulator set in vibration by the airstream
tap/flap /ɾ/ – a single movement in a trill, tongue hits the roof of the mouth
approximant /ɹ/ – approximation of two articulators with no turbulent airstream
/r/ - the sides of the tongue are in contact with the gums, but the air flows freely down the centre of the tongue
/l/ - the centre of the tongue is in contact with the alveolar ridge but the air flows freely over the lowered sides of the tongue

17. Manners of articulation (4)
/w/
Glides (semi-vowels) –
the articulators are wide apart and the air flows unhindered
the position of the articulators is unstable
like consonants they do not form the nuclei of syllables
/j/
jaj – jej
kuj – kij
odbij - odbyj
biłem – byłem
czuła – czoła
muły - mały
Dodać o sposobie artykulacji /w/ i /j/
The articulation of glides differs from that of consonants and vowels.
Comparing to consonants, in the production of glides the active and passive articulators create a wide stricture and the airstream flows through it unhindered, which is similar to the articulation of vowels.
However, what differs glides from vowels from the perspective of the articulation is the unstable position of the articulators:
/j/ and /w/ are produced with the same position of the articulators as /i/ and /y/ respectively, but the stricture formed by the articulators is narrower in case of the glides than the corresponding vowels.
The unstable position of the articulators means that if we try to „prolong” the articulation of the sound /j/ or /w/ after a while it will turn into its corresponding vowel, as a result of the stabilization of the articulators.
the fact that they do not comprise the nucleus of the syllable (the same for consonants).
So there are two criteria for the distinction of glides: the first one is refers to their articulation and the other one refers to phonology, i.e. how they function in the language.
Dać przykłady z rozdziału półsamogłoski w sekwencjach z samogłoskami.
Glides and liquids are classified as approximants.
Together with nasals and vowels they belong to sonorants.

18. The articulation of vowels (1)
Open approximation – the articulators do not come very close together; an unobstructed passage for the airstream in the oral cavity
Classification of vowels:
Vertical position of the body of the tongue -> front and back vowels
Horizontal position of the body of the tongue -> high, mid and low vowels
Lip rounding -> rounded and unrounded vowels
1) heed, 2) hid , 3) head, 4) had, 5) father, 6) good, 7) food
Vowel sounds are articulated with an open approximation i.e. the articulators are positioned relatively wide apart so that the airstream flows unobstructed through the oral cavity /k’aviti/.
The most important features which distinguish vowels in various languages include:
vertical and horizontal position of the tongue i.e. the height of the tongue body and its front-back position
the degree of lip rounding
The height of the tongue body distinguishes high, mid and low vowels,
whereas the vertical position is what differs front from back vowels.
The figure on the right illustrates various tongue positions (numbers from 1-7) for English vowels.
For the vowels 1-4 the highest point of the tongue is in front of the mouth and thus they are referred to as front vowels.
On the contrary, for vowels 5-7 the highest position of the body of the tongue is close to the back surface of the vocal tract – these vowels are classified as back vowels.
Apart from the front-back distinction we’ve mentioned the classes of high, mid and low vowels.
This classification refers to the position of the tongue body relative to the passive articulator (the palate).
In the figure, the vowel 1 is a high vowel – we can see that in the articulation of this particular vowel the tongue blade is the closest to the palate.
On the contrary, vowels 4 and 5 are articulated with the body of the tongue positioned very low – they are classified as low vowels.
The articulations in between these two extremes are characteristic for mid vowels.

19. The articulation of vowels (2)
The figure depicted in this slide shows vowel chart which represents the articulation of vowels.
We can see here eight cardinal vowels which are distributed exactly at the intersections of the lines that show different positions of the body of the tongue in the vertical and horizontal line.
Polish vowels are also depicted in this chart – they are marked in red circles.
This chart can be located in the vocal tract so that you can see exactly how it reflects different positions of the tongue body.
/i/ wij (półsamogłoski w sekwencjach z samogłoskami, kontrast aj-ej…)
/y/ wyj (półsamogłoski w sekwencjach z samogłoskami)
/e/ jej (półsamogłoski w sekwencjach z samogłoskami)
/a/ jaj (półsamogłoski w sekwencjach z samogłoskami)
/o/ czoła (półsamogłoski w sekwencjach z samogłoskami, kontrast uw-aw)
/u/ czuła (półsamogłoski w sekwencjach z samogłoskami, kontrast uw-aw)
/i/ e.g. wij
/ɨ/ e.g. wyj
/e/ e.g. jej
/a/ e.g. jaj
/o/ e.g . czuła
/u/ e.g. czoła

20. Classification of speech sounds
Consonantal sounds can be described by referring to the following features:
Airstream mechanism
The state of the vocal cords
Velum position
Place of articulation
Manner of articulation
Consonants – usually 3 dimensions: voicing, place and manner of articulation
Vowels – the height of the tongue body, the front-back position of the tongue and the degree of lip rounding
Consonants – airstream mechanism and velum are referred to only when the consonant is different than pulmonic egressive and oral respectively

21. Consonants vs. vowels
The distinction between vowels and consonants is primary in the analysis and description of speech.
Vowels:
articulated with an open approximation
syllabic (nucleus)
Consonants:
articulated with some kind of an obstruction
non-syllabic (onset, coda)
In the analysis of speech sounds we always refer to the primary distinction that is drawn between them – i.e. the one between consonants and vowels.
From the point of view of the articulation the main difference between consonants and vowels concerns the degree of stricture i.e. the distance between the active and passive articulators.
In the production of consonants there is always some kind of an obstruction in the oral tract, whereas for vowels which are produced with an open approximation there is no such hindrance and the air flows out freely.
Glides are somehow problematic, because like vowels they are articulated with an open approximation, but at the phonological level they function in a similar way to consonants.
So the most important feature that distinguishes vowels from consonants has to do with the phonology – vowels are syllabic i.e. they comprise the essential part of the syllable known as nucleus without which there would be no syllable. Consonants (including glides) never constitute the nucleus – they are optional in the syllable structure and appear in the position of the syllable onset or coda.
In the syllable structure we distinguish there parts: onset, nucleus and coda. As we’ve said before nucleus is the obligatory part and it is a vowel. Onset consists of the consonants preceding the vocalic nucleus and coda comprises the consonants following the nucleus.

22. Suprasegmental features (1)
These features are superimposed on units larger than a single speech unit (phoneme) -> syllables, phrases, sentences.
They include:
variation in stress
variation in pitch
(variation in length)
Suprasegmental features are those features which are superimposed on syllables as opposed to segmental features whose domain are speech segments.
These features include variation in stress and pitch. Sometimes variation in length (duration) is also treated as a suprasegmental feature, but as a matter of fact it affects both syllables and single segments.
Analysis and description of s. features is always carried out in relation to other items in the same utterance, because relative values are linguistically important and absolute values convey evidential information (speaker’s age, sex, emotional state etc.).
Analysis and description – in relation to other items in the same utterance – relative values are linguistically significant.

23. Suprasegmental features (2)
Variation in stress
increased activity of respiratory and laryngeal muscles
functions
Grammatical e.g. (En) ins’ult (verb) vs. ’insult (noun)
Lexical e.g. (Pl) j’ajem vs. ja j’em
Grouping e.g. (Pl) do d’omu
Demarcative e.g. (Pl) niedal’eko, poj’utrze
Cumulative
Emphasis (focus) or contrastive emphasis
Variation in stress is caused by an increase in the activity of the respiratory muscles and the activity of the laryngeal muscles. As a result a greater amount of the air is pushed out of the lungs and there is a significant change in pitch.
Stress has many different functions in different languages e.g.
grammatical function: in English it distinguishes between verbs (last syllable of „insult”, „overflow”) and nouns (first syllable of „insult”, „overflow”)
lexical function: it is used to distinguish lexical meaning e.g. `defer vs. di`ffer
grouping function: each stressed syllable forms a stress group or foot with adjacent/preceding unstressed syllables - stress patterns reflect prominence relations between syllables and rhythmic structures of utterances
demarcative function: position of the stressed syllable serves as a cue of the presence of the word boundary e.g. in Polish (penultimate), Czech and Finnish (left initial syllable), Turkish and French (right final syllable)
cumulative property: signaling the presence of a prosodic domain e.g. word-level stress is an indicator of the presence of a prosodic word, and sentence-level stress signals presence of a phrase
it is commonly used for emphasis or contrastive emphasis.

24. Suprasegmental features (3)
Variation in pitch
laryngeal activity
intonation – patterns of distinctive changes in pitch
domain: phrases, sentences
convey semantic, evidential and regulative information
Variation in pitch caused by laryngeal activity can occur independently of variation in stress. Changes in the pitch that occur over the length of speech units such as phrases or sentences (this does not exclude single syllables!) form patterns described as intonation. Different patterns convey different types of semantic (statement, interrogative mode), evidential information (physical and psychological features of the speaker) and regulative information (turn-taking and –giving in a conversation).
Audio examples – show in Praat!!!

25. Thank you for your attention!