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SPEECH
PRODUCTION
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PREPARE
D BY:

Faculty EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SCIENCE

Course BED. TESL
Group 4C
Subject Name and code English Phonetics and Phonology
Lecturers Name Miss Nurdiyana Binti Mohamad Yusof

Group Members Matrix Card No

Amisha Kaur 4192008821D

Thanaroobini A/P Siva 4192008641D

Pavitra A/P Ramadurai 4192009461D

Jasmeen Kaur 4171004891

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LIST OF CONTENTS
TITLES PAGES

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1-3

2.0 BRANCHES OF PHONETICS 4

3.0 THE ORGANS OF SPEECH 5-8

4.0 THE PRODUCTION OF SPEECH 9 - 11

SOUNDS

5.0 VOWEL AND CONSONANTS 12 - 15

6.0 PLACE OF ARTICLUTION 16 - 22

(EXAMPLES)

7.0 ACTIVITIES 23 - 27
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INTRODUCTION

 The system of contrastive relationships among the speech

sounds that constitute the fundamental components of a
language.
 Speech is produced by bringing air from the lungs to the
larynx (respiration), where the vocal folds may be held open
to allow the air to pass through or may vibrate to make a
sound (phonation).
 The airflow from the lungs is then shaped by the articulators
in the mouth and nose (articulation).

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Explain the system of sound and sound combinations in

English (Phonology).
 Explain how sounds are produced, how they are
transmitted, and how they are perceived (Phonetics).
 Differentiate between consonants and vowels
 Pronounce English sounds in isolation and in connected
speech.
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LEARNING OUTCOMES

By end of the module, students should be able to:

 Answer 10 questions based on the system of sound and

sound combination individually.
 Labelled 10 parts of the various articulators’ diagram
individually.
 Match 5 place of articulation with its meaning
individually.
 Answer the questions on vowels and consonants based
on module learned individually.
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Branches of phonetics
Articulatory phonetics

Studies the way sounds are made with the articulators

Acoustic phonetics

Studies the acoustic results of different articulations.

Studies the way listeners perceive and understand

linguistic signals.

Auditory phonetics
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HOW ARE SOUNDS PRODUCED?

The human speech production system

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The ways in order to produce sounds of any

language is through articulators or organ of speech
as shown in diagram.

THE ORGANS OF SPEECH

PHARYNX
 It is the part of the throat behind mouth and
nasal cavity and above esophagus and larynx.

 It is about 7 cm long in women and about 8 cm

in men, and at its top end it is divided into two,
one part being the back of the mouth and the
other being the beginning of the way through

ALVEOLAR RIDGE

 Alveolar ridge is located in between the top

front teeth and the hard palate.

 The surface is rougher that it feels and covered

with little ridges (forms a border between the
upper and lower jaws that contains sockets of
the teeth) .
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TONGUE
 A very important articulator and it can be
moved into many different places and different
shapes. 

 It is usual to divide the tongue into different

parts, though there are no clear dividing lines
within the tongue. 

SOFT PALATE

 Also known as velum is a soft tissue constituting the back of the roof of the mouth.
 It is hidden from the hard palate at the front of the mouth and doesn’t contain bone.
 It is a vocal organ that can be raised and lowered.
 When it is raised air cannot escape through the nose but when it is lowered air can
escape pass the nose.
 The lower side of the velum it gets in contact with the tongue to produce the
sounds k and g. This are known as velar consonants.

HARD PALATE

 The hard portion of the roof of the mouth. 

 Also called as the roof of the mouth
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TEETH

 Only at the front of the mouth, immediately behind the lips.

 Most speakers have teeth to the sides of their mouths, back almost to the soft palate. 

 The tongue is in contact with the upper side teeth for many speech sounds.

LIPS

 The lips are the most important speech organ as it is used frequently. 

 The lips can be pressed, exposed with the teeth and rounded in order to produce sound.
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THE PRODUCTION OF SPEECH

SOUNDS

 The production of any speech sounds involves the movements of an

air stream.
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 Most speech sounds are produced by pushing the air out of the lungs
through the mouth(oral) and sometimes through the nose (nasal)

The Power Source

1. The facility for your voice comes from air that you simply exhale. 

2. After we inhale, the diaphragm lowers and therefore the skeletal structure expands,
drawing air into the lungs. 

3. As we exhale, the method reverses and air exits the lungs, creating an air stream
within the trachea. 

4. This air stream provides the energy for the vocal folds within the vocal organ to
provide sound. 

5. The stronger the air stream, the stronger the voice. 

6. Give your voice good breath support to make a gradual strong air stream that helps
you create clear sounds.

The
Resonator
1. By themselves, the vocal folds produce a noise that seems like simple buzzing, very
similar to the mouthpiece on a trumpet.

2.  All of the structure above the folds, including the throat, nose, and mouth, are a part
of the resonator system. 

3. We will compare these structures to those of a horn or trumpet.

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4. The buzzing sound created by vocal cord vibration is modified by the form of the
resonator tract to provide our unique human sound.

The Vibrator

1. The larynx (or voice box) sits on top of the windpipe.

2. It contains two vocal folds (also referred to as vocal cords) that open during breathing
and shut during swallowing and voice production.
3. After we produce voice, the air stream passes between the 2 vocal folds that have
close.
4. These folds are soft and are set into vibration by the passing air stream.
5. They vibrate in no time – from 100 to 1000 times per second, reckoning on the pitch
of the sound we make.
6. Pitch is set by the length and tension of the vocal folds, which are controlled by
muscles within the larynx.
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VOWEL AND CONSONANTS

Vowel
 Produced by letting airflow through the vocal tract without any (or with little)

obstruction.

 A speech sound made with your mouth fairly open, the nucleus of a spoken syllable.

 Vowel sounds are always voiced.

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Consonant
 Production involves closure or some sort of obstruction of the air flow in the vocal

tract.

 A sound made with your mouth fairly closed.

 Consonants can be either voiced or voiceless.

Vowels
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There are only two dimensions of movement that affect the sound of a vowel:

 up/down movement

 forward/back movement

Vowel Height

 When you lower your tongue towards your lower jaw, you are making a more

OPEN vowel sound

 When you raise your tongue toward the roof of your mouth, you are making a

more CLOSED vowel sound

Vowel Backness
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 When you extend your tongue forward towards your teeth, you are making a more

FRONT vowel sound.

 When you retract your tongue backward towards your throat, you are making a

more BACK vowel sound.

English has 20 vowel sounds.

Short vowels in the IPA are /ɪ/-pit, /e/-pet, /æ/-pat, /ʌ/-cut, /ʊ/-
put, /ɒ/-dog, /ə/-about. Long vowels in the IPA are /i:/-
week, /ɑ:/-hard,/ɔ:/-fork,/ɜ:/-heard, /u:/-boot. Diphthong
vowels in the IPA are /eɪ/-place, /oʊ/-home, /aʊ/-mouse, /ɪə/-
clear, /eə/-care, /ɔɪ/-boy, /aɪ/-find, /ʊə/-tour.
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CONSONANTS
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A consonant chart lists all of the consonant sounds for a given language while neatly

organizing them by place of articulation, manner of articulation and voicing.

Voicing

 Voiced

Sounds which are made with vocal fold vibration.

 
 Voiceless

Sounds made without vocal fold vibration. 

Place of Articulation

The place of articulation describes where the sound is made. 

 Bilabial
 Labiodental
 Dental/interdental
 Alveolar
 Palatal
 Velar
 Glottal 

Manner of Articulation

The manner of articulation means how the sound is made using the different places of
articulation, tongue placement, whether the sound is voiced or unvoiced and the amount of air
needed.

 Stops
 Fricatives 
 Affricates
 Nasals
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 Liquids
 Glides 

English has 24 consonant sounds. Some consonants have voice

from the voicebox and some don’t. These consonants are voiced
and voiceless pairs /p/ /b/, /t/ /d/, /k/ /g/, /f/ /v/, /s/
/z/, /θ/ /ð/, /ʃ/ /ʒ/, /ʈʃ/ /dʒ/. These consonants are voiced /h/, /w/,
/n/, /m/, /r/, /j/, /ŋ/, /l/.

EXAMPLES

 In articulatory phonetics, the place of articulation (also point of articulation) of a consonant

is the point of contact where an obstruction occurs in the vocal tract between an articulatory
gesture, an active articulator (typically some part of the tongue), and a passive location
(typically some part of the roof of the mouth).  

 The active articulator usually moves in order to make the constriction. 

 The passive articulator usually just sits there and gets approached.

 The 'Place of Articulation', the speech organs, are primarily involved in the
production of a particular sound. 

 These speech organs modify the airstream that is pushed up by the lungs; this process
produces different sounds. 

 The place where the airstream is obstructed is furthermore significant for the exact
production of sounds.
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BILABIAL
Are consonants sounds produced using both lips together. (upper and lower lips). They are
represented by symbols [b] [p] [m] as in book, pen and monkey.

LABIODENTAL
Sound is produced when the lower lip touches the upper teeth known as labiodental. They are
represented by symbols [f] [v] as in the word first and van.
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DENTAL
Sound is produced when the tip of the tongue touches with the back of the top teeth known as
dental. They are represented by the symbol [θ] and [ð] as in the word thick and these.

ALVEOLAR
Sound is produced when the tip or back of the tongue touches with the forward part of the
alveolar ridge known as Alveolar. They are represented by the symbol [s] and [z] as in the
word saw and zen.

PALATO-ALVEOLAR

 Palato-Alveolar occur slightly deeper in the mouth than alveolars

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 There are at least two such sounds in Standard American English: [ʃ], present in a
word like sheep, and [ʒ], found in a word like occasion.

 I invite you to produce the alveolar [s] in the word sap and immediately follow it with
the palato-alveolar [ʃ] in sheep.

 You should be able to feel how far deeper palato-alveolars are compared to alveolars.

PALATAL
Sound is produced when the front of the tongue touches with the domed part of the hard
palate called palatal. They are represented by the symbol [tʃ] , [ʃ] , [ʒ], [dʒ] , [r] and [y]. as in
the church / tʃəːtʃ /, shoe /ʃuː/, conclusion /kənˈkluːʒ(ə)n/ , juice / dʒuːs / , [r] in the word rose
and [y] as in the word in young.

VELAR
Sound is produced when the back of the tongue touches with the velum (soft palate) known
as velar. They are represented by the symbol [k] and [g] as in the word code and get.
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UVULARS
The back of the tongue touches with the very back of the velum, including uvula.

GLOTTAL
The vocal folds come together called glottal. They are represented by the
symbol [h] as in the word hard.
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SIGNPOST

Determined by the passive articulator, thus

the resulting sound is also named after
passive articulators.
E.g. the k sound in the English word king is
called velar, because the passive articulator
involved in its production in the velum i.e.
soft palate

ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITY 1
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING BASED ON THE MODULE LEARNT.
1. How are sounds produced?

2.  Name the 6 articulators that are involved in a sound production.

3.  Bilabials produces ____ consonant(s)

4. /f/ and /v/ are ________ sounds

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5. Labiodental sound is produced when the ______ touches the _____

6. Give two examples of an alveloar sound

7. Vocal folds that come together are known as ______

8. Give an example each for

I) Voice sound

II) Voiceless sound

9. Which organ is most important and frequently used organ

10. Name the 5 parts of the tongue 

ACTIVITY 2

On the diagram provided, various articulators are indicated by labelled arrows (A-J).
Give the names for the articulators. 
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A-

B-

C-

D-

E-

F-

G-

H-

I-

J-

ACTIVITY 3

Match the correct answer to the place of articulation with the correct
meaning.

 Sound is produced when the back

of the tongue touches with the
velum
Palatal          *

Labiodental *  Sound is produced when the tip of

the tongue touches with the back
of the top teeth

Glottal          *
 The vocal folds come together

Dental          *
 Sound is produced when the lower
lip touches the upper teeth
Velar            *
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ACTIVITY 4

Answer the questions below based on the module learned.

 
1. A vowel can have a _____ sound, _____sound or _________

2. Why are vowels different from consonants?

3. The word ‘bat’ and ‘hat’ is a ______ vowel

4. ‘bake’ has a long ‘a’ sound thus ‘a’ is a ______vowel.

5. Give an example of a word each for a long vowel and a short vowel.
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END OF THE MODULE