Think about lip-reading. Why is it possible, and what are the main problems involved?
Lip-reading, or the ability to use information from the lips and face to aid aural comprehension, is possible because phonemes have particular facial and mouth positions, particularly as the tongue and lips move. However, some organs of speech and certain places of articulation are found deep in the mouth or throat and are not visible, such as the vocal cords or the soft palate. This means that some sounds are not detectable, such as glottal consonants., and that others will ‘look’ identical, for example, voiced and unvoiced pairs, such as [p] and [b], [k] and [g], [t] and [d], [f] and [v], and [s] and [z], for example; likewise, nasalisation, or the lowering of the soft palate, is not visible to the eye, which means that [p] and [b] would ‘look’ the same as [m], and so on. Apart from these articulatory features, other environmental factors may make lip-reading particularly difficult, such as the inability to see the speaker’s mouth properly because of an obstruction, like a moustache or any object in front of the mouth (like a cigarette), or lack of light. Can you explain why the phrase "where there's life, there's hope" looks identical to "where's the lavender soap" in most English dialects.
Why does the doctor ask you to say “aaaaah” when he wants to examine your throat, and not any other sound?
Because for the production of the vowel /ɑː/ the centre and back of the tongue are in the fully open position, the lips are neutrally open and no contact is made between the side rims and the upper molars, all of which means that there is no obstruction for the doctor to see clearly through the oral cavity and into the throat area. Notice that the production of any other vowel may offer some obstruction or other; for example, for the production of /ɪ/ and /iː/ the front of the tongue is raised, for /ɒ/ and /ɔː/ it is the back of the tongue which is raised, as well as having a closed mouth; for /ʊ/ and /uː/ the lips are not only closed but protruding; and for /ӕ/, /e/, /ә/ and /ɜː/ the mouth is less open than for /ɑː/.
Children are told not to eat with their mouths full because it is bad manners. Apart from that, why should not we eat with our mouth full?
Because when we speak air is flowing up and down the trachea, whereas in the process of eating it is the aesophagus which is in operation for food to flow down to the stomach. If we start speaking with food in the mouth, there is a risk of choking, which is the mechanical obstruction of the flow of air down the trachea into the lungs, for example, because of a foreign body, like food. This is dangerous since it prevents partial or complete breathing.
Explain how voice is affected by a tracheotomy.
The surgical operation known as ‘tracheotomy’ allows a person to breathe without using their nose or mouth, after an incision on the front of the neck, where the trachea is, has been opened, either as a direct airway or by means of a tube. This incision is usually at a point which is lower than where the vocal cords are. This means that when the trachial tube is inserted, most of the air bypasses the vocal cords and goes out through the tube. Even if some air leaks up to the vocal cords, this may not be strong enough to produce the necessary vibration for speech, or it may only allow enough force for very short utterances. Also, the patient’s voice may sound hoarse, weak or somehow strange. One possible solution is to use a ‘speaking valve’, which is a plastic device to be placed at the end of the tube in order to temporarily close over every time the patient breathes out, so that air is prevented from leaking out, allowing the patient to speak at that moment. For further information, please watch this Link.
What characterises the phonation process of a ventriloquist?
Ventriloquism is defined as the art or practice of speaking, with little or no lip movement, in such a manner that the voice does not appear to come from the speaker but from another source, such as a wooden doll. In order to achieve this effect, the ventriloquist follows the following process: after drawing in a big breath to fill his lungs with air, the throat has to be partially closed off (by raising the back of the tongue to almost touch the soft palate). The diaphragm is used to exert pressure, constricts things in the airway to the mouth and nasal cavities. By slowly exhaling his breath and carefully controlling breath and voice, the air passes over the vocal cords and is confined to an area close to the larynx. In other words, the voice is kind of trapped down in the throat and has nowhere to go. It then comes out faint and strange, and the audience does not really know where it came from.
Why do people use falsetto voice when speaking to babies? Try and produce a model utterance in normal voice and then make it falsetto.
Because this high-pitched voice with exaggerated expression is a natural way of imitating the female voice, which babies usually associate with feeding and comfort.
Voice can be used to perform ‘storytelling’ aloud. Think of the different voices you might use when reading/performing a story to young children in which you aim at impersonating such characters as giants, fairies, mice or ducks.
List adjectives used in English to define someone’s voice. Can you think of some people whose voice is particularly attractive or unpleasant? How would you define it?
Some adjectives that can be used to describe voice are:
Now think of everyday phrases, clichés, collocations, proverbs, metaphors and so on, which are associated with ‘voice’, and compare them; for example: ‘sing like an angel’ or ‘speak like thunder’.
Some examples are: a still tongue makes a wise head, a word to the wise is enough, barking dogs seldom bite, better the foot slip than the tongue, beware of a silent man and still water, brevity is the soul of wit, dumb dogs are dangerous, empty vessels make the most noise, least said soonest mended, no reply is best, say well or be still, silence means consent, speech is silver silence is golden, the squeaking wheel gets the grease think before you speak, if you keep your mouth shut, you won’t put your foot in it, better to remain silent and be thought a fool that to speak and remove all doubt, and so on.
Think about Tarzan, the boy who was born in the jungle and brought up by apes, with no access to human voices. Explain how he acquired linguistic abilities, particularly speech.
Tarzan of the Apes was written by Sir Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first of twenty- four novels in an American series, first published in 1912. Tarzan was born in the African jungle to Lord John and Lady Alice Greystoke, after whose death he was taken and raised by the ape Kala. Tarzan grew up not knowing anything about his "human" condition, always thinking that he was just another ape. With the help of the books and tools left in what was once the cabin where Tarzan's parents lived, he was able to teach himself to read and write, but not to speak. For further information, please consult this link.
Which two Spanish phonemes could you use as a guide to produce the following English phonemes/diphthongs more accurately?
Choose two Spanish phonemes as extremes and try to pronounce the English phoneme as if it were a middle point between the two. Pay attention to length in vowels. Instead of pronouncing the sounds in isolation, think of English words that contain them and say them aloud.
| /ʒ/ | /ʤ/ | /ð/ | /ŋ/ | /æ/ | /ə/ | /əʊ/ | /ɪ/ |
/ʒ/ → /ʎ/ and /ʃ/ (as in measure /ˈmeʒə/) [This only works for Galician speakers; /s/ could perhaps be suggested for Spanish speakers]
/ʤ/ → /ʎ/ and /ʧ/ (as in judge /ʤʌʤ/)
/ð/ → /d/ and /θ/ (as in mother /ˈmʌðə/)
/ŋ/ → /n/ and /ɡ/ (as in sing /sɪŋ/)
/æ/ → /a/ and /e/ (as in cat /kæt/)
/ə/ → /e/ and /o/ (as in about /əˈbaʊt/)
/əʊ/ → /ou/ and /eu/ (as in go /ɡəʊ/)
/ɪ/ → /i/ and /e/ (as in ship /ʃɪp/)