CHAPTER IV

How Speech Sound is Produced , The Vowel Triangle and the

Divisions of Speech

How a Speech Sound is Produced

Articulation is the formation of discrete individual sounds. The articulators (tongue and lower
lip) are the movable organs of the vocal tract involved in articulation.

The tongue is capable of moving up and down, front to back and side to side. Of all the
articulators, the tongue is considered the most mobile.

We can identify five different parts of the tongue based on their positions: tongue front,
tongue tip, tongue dorsum (back), tongue root, and tongue center.

The points of articulation – the teeth – are parts of the vocal tract which cannot move but are
involved in articulation.

Connecting the larynx and the oral cavity is the pharynx which acts as a resonance chamber for
vocal sounds which larynx produces. The pharynx, the oral cavity and the nasal cavity are the three
resonance chambers. Majority of speech sounds are articulated in the oral cavity.

How is voice produced? Voice is produced in the larynx. As you exhale (in respiration), you
bring your vocal cords (muscles that protect the opening of the trachea or windpipe) together closely
enough to make the air vibrate as it passes through them. This vibration (called phonation) produces
a weak sound that is then made louder or resonated (in the course of resonation) as it travels
through the pharynx (throat) and mouth (oral activity) or nose (nasal cavity). Before it reaches the
mouth or nose, however, the resonated sound is shaped (during articulation) by the articulators
(tongue, lips, palate, and teeth) to form the separate sounds of our language system. These individual
sounds or segments – generally classified as consonants and vowels – are then put together into
words or distinguishable vocal symbols.

Mastery of Speech Sounds

People need to be able to communicate orally. That is, a person needs to understand the other
person when he speaks and vice versa. If speech is unintelligible, the act of communication has failed.

Good speech is an asset regarded as essential for success by individuals from all walks of life. It
implies generally good pronunciation, characterized by clear and logically coherent utterance of words,
syllables, phrases and other group of words in an acceptable manner.

Improved speech habits increase the understanding of others’ ideas enabling one to work well
with them. Clear and coherent articulation enhances one’s self-confidence in interacting with people.

No time is ever too late to improve one’s communication abilities. What is essential is the
acceptance of one’s weaknesses and the determination and willingness to learn.

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PHONEMES

Segmental sounds are produced when the organs of speech are moved. A phoneme is a
representation of a speech sound. The symbol for each phoneme is enclosed in a slash mark or
squared bracket as in:

d=/d/
d=[d]

Segmentals are: vowels, diphthongs and consonants.

Vowel sounds are produced without any attempt to block the airstream; hence, there is free
flow of air. Their articulation is dependent on four factors – jaw height, tongue position, muscle
condition and lip shape.

Diphthongs are vowel sounds that are perceived as one unit. The gliding of the first vowel to
the second one is so fast that the two are taken as just one. It is composed of one vowel core and
another vowel that glides away from the core vowel.

Consonants are articulated or shaped when there is an attempt to close or obstruct the
passageway of air (called vocal or speech tract). Say the words “up”, “aim” and “ebb”. What happened
when you articulated the final sounds of those words? The vocal tract was totally closed by your lips.

There are eleven (11) recognizable vowel sounds and twenty-four (24) consonant sounds in
English and several more variants which include the vowel types and consonant forms. Unfortunately,
however, the number of sounds is more than the letters of the English alphabet. Because of the
multiplicity of sounds a letter can have, linguists have devised a scientific codification of sounds, the
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), where a symbol represents a distinct speech sound.

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 FRONT CENTRAL BACK

HIGH
[ iy ] - beat [uw] - boot
[I] - bit [ʊ] - book

[ I ] city
[ ey] - bait
MID [ 3 ] curl [ʌ ] cut [ ow ] - boat
[ ɛ ] - bet
[ ə ] nation

[æ] – bat [ ɔ ] - bought

LOW

[ a ] bot

Figure 6. The Vowel / Vietor Triangle

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 Divisions of Speech

A. Segmentals

1. Vowel Sounds:

Classification of Vowels:

a. Front, central, back – depends on which part of the tongue is arched.

b. High, mid, low – depends on the pitch with which the sound is
pronounced.
c. Round, unround – depends on the shape of the lips
d. Tense, lax – depends on the degree of tension in the muscles of the
speech organs.

Variations of the schwa (‘lazy vowel’) sounds:

[ ʌ ] stressed : but, cup, luck, done

[ ə] unstressed : about, famous, nation
[ I ] unstressed : used for endings:

-y : city
-ay / ey : Sunday, money
-ed : needed
-es : cases
-ing : walking

[3 ] or [3r ] : stressed; always before [ r ] : girl, world, curl, pearl, journal

2. Diphthong Sounds: combination of two vowel sounds pronounced as one

a. [ a ] + [ I ] = [ ay ] sigh
b. [ a ] + [u ] = [ aw ] cow
c. [o ] + [ I ] = [ oy ] soy

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 3. Consonant Sounds: voiced and voiceless

Plosives: [ p ] pill [pIl] [ b ] bill [ b I l]

[ t ] till [tIl ] [ d ] dill [ d I l]
[ k ] kill [kIl] [ g ] gill [ g I l]

Fricatives: [ f ] fan [fæ n ] [ v ] van [ væn]

[θ] thigh [θ ay ] [ ɣ ] thy [ ɣ ay]
[ s ] sink [sInk] [ z ] zinc [zInk ]
[ ] ash [æ ] [ʒ ] azure [ aʒʊr]

[ h ] hat [ hæt]

Affricates:
[ ] chip [ t Ip ] [ dʒ ] gyp [ dʒIp ]

Nasals: [ m ] sum [ s ʌ m ]
[ n ] sun [ s ʌ n ]
[ ŋ ] sung [ s ʌ ŋ ]

Lateral: (clear) [ l ] late [leyt]

(dark) [ l ] child [tayl ]

Retroflex: [r] rate [reyt]

Glides : [ w ] watt [ w a t ]
[ hw ] what [ hw a t ]
[ y ] yacht [ y a t ]

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B. Suprasegmentals

a. Stress – a feature of English speech in relation to loudness. It is characterized by a

force or increased loudness, longer duration, and higher pitch for the stressed
syllables of the
words.

cólleague jéopardy epítome

ímpious advénture uténsil

réndezvous condólence facáde

b. Pitch – general level on a musical scale of the voice in speech in which it depends on
the frequency of vibration of the vocal cords. Pitch could be low, normal, high,
extra high. If a person is habitually a tense individual , he is likely to vocalize at a
higher pitch level than a habitually relaxed person.

c. Intonation – the rising and falling of the pitch of the voice when a person is
speaking.

d. Juncture – refers to an interruption or break in the continuous flowof speech.

The dean / said the clerk / is busy.

The dean said / the clerk is busy.

English is still a second language in the Philippines. In teaching and or learning

any second language, one must accept a standard. This standard should be General
American English rather than another variety of English. No matter how hard the
English teacher tries, a local variety will continue to develop (Gonzales 1983: 168).