Speech, a form of human 

communication,  is
produced by three groups of organs working
together: 

respiratory phonatory articulatory

1 2 3

The dominant elements of the respiratory

system are the lungs, the chest wall and the
diaphragm. Working together, they provide
the mechanical energy in form of air pressure,
the aerodynamic energy of the speech needed
to produce sound in the larynx. 
There are two important phases in the
respiratory system that are related to speech: 
inspiratio
n

exhalatio
soundararajaneng@nct.ac.in
n
Speech is produced by the speech organs, where
airstream  causes the vocal folds to produce sounds
and this is known as egressive airstream mechanism. 

 Pulmonic egressive
egressive sounds  (from Lungs)
the air stream  Glottalic egressive
is created by (from Glottis)
pushing air out
through the  Velaric egressive
mouth/ (from Tongue)
nose.

The opposite of an egressive sound is an 

ingressive sound, in which the airstream flows
inward through the mouth or nose.
Larynx

Trachea

The air from the lungs enters the larynx through

trachea
The larynx houses vocal folds, “typically about 17 to
22 mm long in males and about 11 to 16 mm long in
females” (32). The cartilage structure that surrounds
the vocal folds
The epiglottis, a leaf-
shaped cartilage that closes
the airways during
swallowing, thus protecting
sensitive tissue, is located
above the larynx.
 ARTICULATORY ORGANS The physiology of the vocal tract  links anatomy
with phonetics. It describes, in terms of mechanics,
properties and dimensions of the environment
where speech sounds are created.

Above the epiglottis is the pharynx, a muscular

passage that connects the oral cavity, the larynx and
the velum. The pharynx is passively involved in
NASAL CAVITY
speech (42), because it modifies the size of the space
between the oral cavity and the larynx. 
HARD PALATE
The velum, a soft tissue, is placed above the pharynx.
ORAL CAVITY
It directs the airflow in speech: if raised it closes the
SOFT PALATE velopharyngeal port, an opening to the nasal cavity 
LIPS TONGUE The oral cavity is a space between the, lips the
tongue and the roof of the mouth. The oral cavity is
a space in vocal tracts where humans can exert the
TEETH PHARYNX greatest control of its size and shape which makes it
TEETH critical for “determining the phonetic qualities of
RIDGE speech sounds”.
The lips and the tongue have an important role in
VOCAL speech sound production
FOLDS
When the tongue is moved backwards or forwards,
the space in the pharyngeal region changes, and with
the movement upwards and downwards (usually
followed by mandible movement) the space defined
by the hard palate and tongue changes in volume
and shape

ORAL & NASAL PRODUCTIONS

Producing a consonant involves making the vocal
tract narrower at some location which is called
CONSTRICTION.

sounds produced when the air is sent through

the nose (the nasal cavity) are called nasal sounds.

Sounds produced when the air is sent through

the mouth (the oral cavity) are called oral sounds

soundararajaneng@nct.ac.in
PHONEMES OF ENGLISH
Dr. R. Soundararajan
 CONSONANT
01 S

S
NT
Generally English All Consonants are

NA
Language has frictional sounds and there

O
ONE Alphabet 05 is a THREE term label to

NS
02
24
which has 26 find out the variation of

CO
letters each consonant sound in
12 VOWELS English
As far as the
04 Consonants are also known as
production of “CONTOIDS”
03 All Consonants of English are
sounds of English
8 PH

concerned – it has either in voiced or in voiceless

DI

44 sounds 02
03 The variations of sounds are
TH

01 modified by the contact of Active

O

Articulators with Passive

NG

Articulators
Consonants have some constriction in the vocal
S

tract that obstructs the airflow, either partially

or completely.
 Consonants can be classified under
three pieces of information
03
02
01
This is called “THREE

VOICING
ARTICULATION
MANNER OF
EPIGLOTTIS
ARTICULATION
PLACE OF
TERM LABLE”

VOCAL FOLDS

Position of the
the vocal folds are folds of tissue located in the
vocal cords –
larynx (voicebox) that have three important
either OPEN or functions:
CLOSE position
•To protect the airway from choking on material in
How the vocal the throat
TRACHIEA
tract is obstructed •To regulate the flow of air into our lungs
Where the and also flow of •The production of sounds used for speech.
obstruction in the air through
vocal tract occurs MOUTH or NOSE
 PLACE OF ARTICULATION
The tongue, lips, teeth &
various regions of the
mouth constitute places
of articulation in the oral
activity
MANNER OF ARTICULATION
Manner of articulation describes HOW the tongue,
lips, etc. are configured to produce the sound
STOP
01
(PLOSIVE)

FIRCATIVE 02
Where?
BILABIAL
03 AFFRICATE
LABIO DENTAL
01
07 GLOTA
02 LIQUID 04
L
DENTAL 06 05 GLAIDE
03
NASAL 06
VELAR
04 05
ALVEOLAR
PALATAL
Plosive Plosive consonants are oral sounds the soft palate is raised so that air from the
lungs cannot pass upwards into the nasal
cavity. The air can, therefore, only escape
Plosives are made by making a through the oral cavity.
complete closure between some
point and the vocal tract. Pressure
builds up behind the closure which
is released toBILABIAL
createPLOSIVE
sound.
/p, b/

/t, d/
ALVEOLAR PLOSIVE
plosives are made by a complete
VELAR PLOSIVE obstruction that briefly stops the airflow,
they are also referred to as stops or stop
/k, g/ consonants.

Here the air is completely stopped by the lips and

after release there is an audible sound. /p/, /b/