The organs of speech

Speech is produced in the throat, mouth and nasal passage, but there are no “speech organs” as such, strictly speaking; all of the organs used in speech have other, and perhaps more fundamental, purpose involving eating and breathing. Nevertheless the term is familiar and meaninful in the contex of articulatory phonetics, and will be used here. The speech organs are shown in a diagram, a cross-section of the head and throat.

1-nasal cavity
2-lips
3-teeth
4-aveolar ridge
5-hard palate
6-velum (soft palate)
7-uvula
8-apex (tip) of tongue
9-blade (front) of tongue
10-dorsum (back) of tongue
11-oral cavity
12-pharynx
13-epiglottis
14-larynx
15-vocal cords
16-trachea
17-esophagus