Phonetics

• Millions of years of evolution have resulted in an amazing instrument: the human voice
• Homo loquens


  Man, the Talker
• Phonetics


  The study of sounds used in speech
• Our understanding of the physics of speech sounds has become so sophisticated in recent years that we can now create synthetic (electronic) speech that is almost indistinguishable from naturally produced speech
• Acoustic phonetics


  The study of the physical properties of sound
• Auditory phonetics


  The study of how sounds are received by the ear and decoded by the brain
• Auditory phonetics focuses on the listener rather than the producer of speech
• The study of auditory phonetics relies heavily on knowledge that comes from the study of anatomy and physiology
• Articulatory phonetics


  The study of the production of speech sounds
• Articulatory phonetics deals with the sender rather than the receiver of the message
• The pharynx is the part of the throat that connects to the larynx.
• The epiglottis is a flap-like structure at the back of the tongue that covers the entrance to the trachea during swallowing, preventing food from entering the lungs.
• The vocal folds (also known as vocal cords) are two bands of tissue within the larynx that vibrate when air passes over them, producing sound.