5
1.2. Aspects of Sound Phenomena
Speech sounds are produced by the human organs of speech, transmitted
through the air, and received by the human ear; the information conveyed by the
sounds and prosodic features is then sent to the human brain, where its meaning is
interpreted. Therefore, speech may be analyzed from different perspectives:
production, or articulation,
acoustic transmission,
auditory reception,
function.
Articulatory aspect of speech. The act of speech is the effect which results
from the coordinated work of different organs: the lungs, the bronchi, the trachea,
the larynx, the vocal cords, or vocal folds (in the trachea), the pharynx, the mouth;
the speech organs in the oral cavity, or the mouth cavity, – the tongue (its main
parts are the tip, the blade, the front, the back of the tongue); the lower and upper
teeth, the alveolar ridge, the hard and the soft palate, the uvula: the lower and the
upper lips, the lower jaw; the nasal cavity.
The stream of air escapes from the lungs and passes along the vocal tract –
the larynx, the pharynx, the oral or nasal cavity. The air pressure below the vocal
cords make them vibrate. Vibrations are transmitted by the stream of air, reach the
human ear, carried to the brain and perceived by a person as voice. The process of
voice production is called phonation.
Due to their coordinated movements and particular positions, the human
speech organs can produce different sound effects. This process is called
articulation. For each sound, the position of the speech organs is changed;
consequently, the shape and the size of the pharynx and the oral cavity are
changed; as a result, we pronounce different speech sounds.
6
HUMAN SPEECH ORGANS
7
Acoustic aspect of speech. The acoustics of speech is a physical process of
transmission of sound through the air. Though the human brain identifies sounds of
speech in terms of auditory qualities (physiology and psychology) rather than
acoustic properties (physics). That is why the outline of speech acoustics in the
following paragraph is provided with reference to the auditory aspect of speech.
The acoustics of speech studies the physical properties of air waves
produced through movements of the vocal organs, especially through vibrations of
the vocal folds. These properties are frequency, amplitude, intensify, duration
spectrum. Frequency is the number of movements of air particles per second
measured in hertz. The basic frequency is called the fundamental frequency (Fo).
On the auditory level, frequency of a pure tone is perceived as pitch; the higher the
frequency of a sound, the higher pitch the human brain perceives. Complex tones
are a combination of several tones which result from simultaneous vibrations of
different organs. Amplitude is the distance between the rest point and the top or
bottom point of a wave within which air particles move. Amplitude affects a
sound’s intensity. The latter is the chief factor in creating the auditory effect of
loudness; the other factors are frequency and duration. Spectrum is correlation
between the frequency and amplitude of a sound. The peaks of amplitude in
correlation with particular frequencies are the main points of energy in sound
production; they are called formants.
Auditory aspect of speech. It has already been said that what we perceive
as voice exists in the form of pressure waves made by vibrations of particles of air.
A wave passes along the external auditory canal of the human ear and reaches the
eardrum. The eardrum turns vibrations into mechanical movement, which is
transmitted to the human brain. The mechanism of sound perception involves
complex physiological and psychological processes.
There is a correlation between acoustic properties of speech and auditory
qualities perceived by a person:
frequency is perceived as pitch of voice;
8
intensity, as loudness;
duration, as the length of a sound;
spectrum / formants, as specific quality of a sound which makes it different
from other sounds.
Functional, or linguistic, aspect of speech. Speech sounds and prosody
belong the fundamental elements of language; in other words, they are linguistic
phenomena. The main function of sounds and suprasegmental (prosodic) features
is to convey different meanings. They enable people to communicate, express their
thoughts, feelings, attitudes, for which reason this aspect of speech is also called
social.
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
1. List the aspects of sound phenomena.
2. Explain how they are related to the process of speech production and
perception.
3. Explain the term articulatory aspect.
4. List the human speech organs.
5. Define phonation.
6. Define articulation.
7. How are sounds produced?
8. How is acoustic aspect of speech different from articulatory aspect?
9. What are physical properties of air waves?
10. Define each of these properties.
11. Say how the acoustic properties of speech correlate with the auditory
qualities.
12. List the auditory qualities of speech.
13. Explain why functional aspect of speech phenomena is also called
linguistic or social aspect.
