To understand how speech sounds are made, it’s important to look at the tools we use; these tools are called articulators. These are parts of our vocal tract that work together to shape and produce the different sounds we hear and use in language.
There are two main types of articulators: active and passive.
Active Articulators
These are the parts that move during the production of sounds. They are mainly responsible for initiating or modifying airflow.
Tongue: The most flexible and important articulator. It has several parts:
Tip (or apex)
Blade (just behind the tip)
Front (towards the hard palate)
Back (towards the soft palate)
Root (near the pharynx)
Lips: Can come together (as in /p/, /b/, /m/) or shape airflow (as in /w/ or vowels like /u/).
Lower Jaw: Helps move the tongue and lips into position.
Velum (Soft Palate): Can move up to block the nasal cavity (for oral sounds), or down to allow air through the nose (for nasal sounds like /m/, /n/).
Glottis: The space between the vocal folds. Controls voicing; whether the vocal folds vibrate or not.
Passive Articulators
These remain still but serve as the contact point for the active articulators.
Upper Teeth: Contact the lower lip (as in /f/, /v/) or the tongue (as in /θ/, /ð/).
Alveolar Ridge: The bumpy ridge behind your upper front teeth. It’s where sounds like /t/, /d/, /s/, and /l/ are made.
Hard Palate: The hard surface of the roof of the mouth, just behind the alveolar ridge. Used for sounds like /j/.
Uvula: Found at the very end of the soft palate, important in some languages but not in standard English.
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