5. The vocal tract and points of articulation

     There are many good sites you can visit to deepen your understanding and visual impression of the structure of the vocal tract. Here are some simple and clear line drawings (these are part of an entire online course in phonetics you may wish to try) from the Université de Lausanne:

http://www.unil.ch/ling/page24434.html

     Here, from the University of Manitoba, is a similar view of the vocal tract created with the aid of MRI, magnetic resonance imaging:

http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/linguistics/russell/138/sec1/anatomy.htm

     and here are two sites that explain what MRI is:

MRI site #1 http://www.howstuffworks.com/mri1.htm
MRI site #2 http://www.radiologyinfo.org/content/mr_of_the_head.htm#Description

     Below from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland follow links to two detailed mid-sagittal views of the head (click on them to enlarge them), and some useful phonetics links:

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/langling/resources/midsagsection.jpg
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/langling/resources/midsagsectionbw.jpg
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/langling/resources/phonetics.html

     Here's another mid-sagittal view of the head from SIL, with the organs of articulation labeled. The labels are linked to definitions in an online phonetics glossary:

http://www.sil.org/mexico/ling/glosario/e005bi%2Dorgansart.htm

     Meet Sammy: A University of Toronto site offers an interactive (meaning you can play around with it!) mid-sagittal (cut in half lengthwise between the eyes) section of the head showing the position of the articulators for many different phonemes. Sammy Mansfield (the initials of this name are the same as for 'Speech Mechanism') was the name given to outline mid-saggital sketches used by William A. Smalley in his Manual of Articulatory Phonetics, first published in 1961, to illustrate vocal tract configurations during the articulation of different sounds. (His wife was a very 60s lady named Sally who liked to buy silly hats that Sammy didn't approve of.) Here is the modern-day digital Sammy:

http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~danhall/phonetics/sammy.html

     Set parameters such as voiced/voiceless; oral/nasal; lip position, and so forth, and the figure of the head will assume the position required to make the sound with those values. This can be useful in reviewing information in Chapter One of Ladefoged.

     Here is a "Speech Animator" somewhat similar to "Sammy" that can help you review the IPA symbols for English consonants:

http://web.tiscali.it/davidbrett/phonology/Speech_anim.htm

     You'll notice that Sammy and the Speech Animator can only handle consonants. We're going to jump ahead of the text a bit and have a look at the vowel space inside the mouth as well. Click on the link for an excellent vowel chart and accompanying information, to give you an idea about the articulation of vowels. This site will also introduce you to a practical career possibility for someone with extremely good phonetics training. The site owner, Joel Goldes, is a dialect coach who trains actors to speak English with various accents. He also teaches ordinary folks to learn, for example, a neutral American accent so their speech style doesn't distract too much from their intended message. Native speakers sometimes take special classes to learn more standard pronunciation too!

      Here's another vowel chart, with sound files, from the University of Aberbeen:

http://www.fanamtutor.de/Pages/sounds/vowels.htm

     Even
more amazing graphics coming up.

Next: X-ray cineradiography

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