The Power of Effective Communication: Learn to Speak Confidently

One of the functions of the mouth is collaboration in language and speech. Language is made up of in addition to speech, gestures and mimicry.

Sound is produced by the larynx by vibrating the air coming from the lungs through a pair of elastic vocal cords. Then the mouth transforms these sounds with the articulation, into phonemes using the teeth, tongue, palate, lips and facial muscles. A string of phonemes results in the word.

When we speak or sing, the air passes through the vocal cords and makes them vibrate. By shortening and tightening the strings, higher-frequency, higher-pitched sounds are emitted; On the other hand, when you relax them, they lengthen and produce lower frequency vibrations. In addition, when the air passes through them faster and with more force, the greater the volume of the sound.

The tongue, the lips, the cheeks and the surfaces of the teeth, especially the incisor group (blades), collaborate in the formation of the sound of the vowels, the most natural being A, then E and I, shortening the tube that describes the pharyngeal, nasal and buccal cavity, gradually shortening this tube, gradually referenced in its length at A. By lengthening this tube we will have the O and later the U being longer.

The soft palate and uvula make it easier for sounds to travel to the mouth to produce consonant articulation.

The consonants are divided into stops, fricatives, vibrations and nasal or resonant.

The plosives (total and momentary closure of the air passage) are B and P, when pronouncing the first the lips gently separate when the air current arrives. When we pronounce the P our lips part abruptly. We consider both consonants bilabial due to the elements that participate in the articulation.

The D and T are linguodental sounds, explosive sounds, with the lips, the dental arches ajar, and the tongue in the anterior part of the hard palate. The G and J are produced when the back of the tongue comes into contact with the palate and they are palatine.

The fricative consonants (narrowing where the air passes brushing) are the V and the F which are labiodental by the union of the lip with the lower incisor group. To pronounce the S, the lips are delayed, leaving the lower incisors visible.

The vibrating consonants (the air makes the tip of the tongue vibrate as it passes) are the RR and R, the tongue moves in the anterior part of the hard palate. The nasal consonants (part of the air passes through the nasal cavity) are N, M.

We have seen how consonants are produced mainly by the participation of the lips, between the hard palate and the tongue, and between the soft palate and the tongue.

Alterations of the lips, such as cleft lip, which is sometimes associated with cleft palate, lack of teeth in the anterior sector, hypertrophy of the lingual frenulum or its shortening can cause alterations in phonetics. Even the mobility of the teeth in periodontal patients can cause air to escape between the teeth and alter normal phonetics.