Speech Production

The organs involved in speech include the larynx, which encloses loose flaps of muscle called vocal cords. The puffs of air that are released create a waveform, which can be approximated by a series of rounded pulses. The waveform created by the vocal cords propagates through a series of irregularly shaped tubes, including the throat, the mouth, and the nasal passages. At the lips and other points in the tract, part of the waveform is transmitted further, and part is reflected. The flow can be significantly constricted or further, and part is reflected. The flow can be significantly constricted or completely interrupted by the uvula, the teeth, and the lips.
A voiced sound occurs when the vocal cords produce a more or less regular waveform. The less periodic, unvoiced sounds involve turbulence in which some part of the whole tract is tightened. Vowels are voiced sounds produced without any major obstruction in the vocal cavity. In speech, formats are created by the position of tongue and jaw, for example. In separating vowels, the first three formats are the most significant. In the male, the fundamental frequency of voiced sounds in around 80-160 Hz, with three formats around 500, 1500, and 2500 Hz. The fundamental of the female is around 200 Hz and higher, with the formats perhaps 10 percent higher than those of the male. Consonants arise when the vocal tract is more or less obstructed. Sounds at the level of consonants and vowels are collectively known as phonemes, the most basic unit of speech differentiation, analysis, and synthesis. The next level up from phonemes is the diphthong and the syllable, then the word.