The speech apparatus is represented by a system of interconnected organs responsible for the production of sounds and the construction of speech. It is a system through which people can communicate through speech. It consists of several departments and different elements of the human body, inextricably linked.
The structure of the speech apparatus is a unique system in which many human organs are involved. It includes the respiratory organs, active and passive components of speech, and elements of the brain. The respiratory organs play an important role; sounds cannot be formed without exhalation. When the diaphragm contracts, interacting with the intercostal muscles on which the lungs rest, inhalation occurs; when it relaxes, exhalation occurs. As a result, a sound is produced.
Passive organs do not have much mobility. These include: the jaw region, nasal cavity, laryngeal organ, palate (hard), pharynx and alveoli. They are the supporting structure for active organs.
The active elements produce sound and produce one of the basic functions of speech. They are represented by: the lip area, all parts of the tongue, vocal cords, palate (soft), epiglottis. The vocal cords are represented by two muscular bundles that produce sounds when they contract and relax.
The human brain sends signals to other organs and controls all their work, directing speech according to the will of the speaker.
The structure of the human speech apparatus:
- Nasopharynx
- Hard palate and soft palate.
- Lips.
- Language.
- Incisors.
- Pharynx area.
- Larynx, epiglottis.
- Trachea.
- Bronchi on the right side and lung.
- Diaphragm.
- Spine.
- Esophagus.
The listed organs belong to two sections that form the speech apparatus. This is the central peripheral department.
Peripheral department: its structure and functioning
The peripheral speech apparatus is formed by three sections. The first section includes the respiratory organs, which play a major role in the pronunciation of sounds during exhalation. This department supplies air jets, without which it is impossible to create sound. Exhaust air flows perform two important functions:
- Voice-forming.
- Articulatory.
When speech breathing is impaired, sounds are also distorted.
The second section consists of the passive organs of human speech, which have a major impact on the technical component of speech. They give speech a certain color and strength, creating characteristic sounds. This is the vocal department responsible for the characteristic features of human speech:
- Strength;
- Timbre;
- Height.
When the vocal cords contract, the air flow at the outlet is converted into vibrations of air particles. It is these pulsations, transmitted to the external air environment, that are heard like a voice. The strength of the voice depends on the intensity of contractions of the vocal cords, which is regulated by air flow. The timbre depends on the shape of the vibrations, and the pitch depends on the force of pressure on the vocal cords.
The third section includes the active organs of speech, which directly produce sound and perform the main work in its formation. This department plays the role of sound creator.
Articulatory apparatus and its role
The structure of the articulatory apparatus is built on the basis of the following elements:
- Lip area;
- Components of language;
- Soft and hard palate;
- Jaw department;
- Laryngeal region;
- Vocal folds;
- Nasopharynx;
- Resonators.
All these organs consist of individual muscles that can be trained, thereby working on your speech. When lowered and raised, the jaws (lower and upper) close or open the path to the nasal cavity. The pronunciation of some vowel sounds depends on this. The shape and structure of the jaws are reflected in the sounds pronounced. Deformations of this part of the department lead to speech disorders.
- The main element of the articulatory apparatus is the tongue. It is very mobile thanks to its many muscles. This allows it to become narrower or wider, long or short, flat or curved, which is important for speech.
There is a frenulum in the structure of the tongue that significantly affects pronunciation. With a short frenulum, the reproduction of eye sounds is impaired. But this defect can be easily eliminated in modern speech therapy.
- The lips play a role in the articulation of sounds, helping their mobility to take the tongue into a specific location. By changing the size and shape of the lips, the articulatory creation of vowel sounds is ensured.
- The soft palate, which continues the hard palate, can fall or rise, ensuring the separation of the nasopharynx from the pharynx. It is in a raised position when all sounds are formed, with the exception of “N” and “M”. If the functioning of the velum palatine is impaired, sounds are distorted and the voice becomes nasal, “nasal.”
- The hard palate is a component of the lingual-palatal seal. The amount of tension required from the tongue when creating sounds depends on its type and shape. The configurations of this section of the articulatory system are different. Depending on their varieties, some components of the human voice are formed.
- The volume and clarity of the sounds produced depend on the resonator cavities. The resonators are located in the extension pipe. This is the space above the larynx, represented by the oral and nasal cavities, as well as the pharynx. Due to the fact that the human oropharynx is one cavity, it is possible to create different sounds. The tube that these organs form is called supernumerary. It plays the fundamental function of a resonator. Changing the volume and shape, the extension pipe participates in creating resonance, as a result, some of the sound overtones are muffled, while others are amplified. As a result, speech timbre is formed.
The central apparatus and its structure
The central speech apparatus is the elements of the human brain. Its components:
- Cerebral cortex (mainly its left part).
- Nodes under the bark.
- Nuclei of nerves and trunk.
- Signal pathways.
Speech, like all other manifestations of the higher nervous system, develops thanks to reflexes. These reflexes are inextricably linked with the functioning of the brain. Some of its departments play a special, major role in speech reproduction. Among them: the temporal part, the frontal lobe, the parietal region and the occipital region, belonging to the left hemisphere. In right-handed people, this role is performed by the right hemisphere of the brain.
The inferior, also known as the frontal, gyri play a major role in the creation of oral speech. The convolutions in the temple area are the auditory part, which perceives all sound stimuli. Thanks to it you can hear someone else's speech. In the process of understanding sounds, the main work is performed by the parietal region of the human brain cortex. And the occipital part is responsible for the visual part and the perception of speech in the form of writing. In children, it is active when observing the articulation of elders, leading to the development of oral speech.
The characteristic color of the voice depends on the subcortical nuclei.
The brain interacts with the peripheral elements of the system through:
- Centripetal paths.
- Centrifugal paths.
Centrifugal pathways connect the cortex with the muscles that regulate the functioning of the peripheral region. The centrifugal pathway begins in the cerebral cortex. The brain sends signals along these pathways to all peripheral organs that produce sounds.
Response signals to the central region travel along centripetal pathways. Their origin is located in the baroreceptors and proprioceptors located inside the muscles, as well as tendons and articular surfaces.
The central and peripheral departments are inextricably linked and dysfunction of one will inevitably lead to disruption of the other. They constitute a single system of the speech apparatus, thanks to which the body is able to produce sounds. The articulatory department, as an element of the peripheral part, plays a separate role in the production of correct and beautiful speech.
The speech apparatus is the totality and interaction of human organs that take part in the process of speech breathing, sound and voice production, and also ensure the emergence of speech itself in the speaker. The latter include the organs of hearing, vision, articulation and the human central nervous system. In a narrow sense, the vocal apparatus refers to all those organs directly involved in the process of sound formation (respiratory organs, larynx, supraglottic cavities) and breathing.
How sounds are formed
Nowadays, the structure of the speech apparatus can be considered fully studied. It allows us to understand how sound is generated and how to eliminate possible problems and disorders of the voice-speech apparatus.
How does the process of sound pronunciation occur? The sounds of their combination are generated as a result of contraction of the muscular tissues that make up the peripheral speech apparatus. A person, starting to speak, exhales automatically, unconsciously. The created air flow from the lungs passes into the larynx, as a result of which the resulting nerve impulses affect the vocal cords. They vibrate and contribute to the formation of sounds that form words and sentences.
The structure of the speech apparatus
The vocal apparatus consists of two sections: central and executive. The first represents the brain with its cortex, subcortical nodes, pathways, nuclei of the brainstem (primarily the medulla oblongata) and corresponding nerves. And the peripheral department is the entire set of executive speech organs, which include bones and cartilage, muscles and ligaments, as well as peripheral nerves (sensory and motor). With their help, the work of the listed bodies is carried out.
In turn, the executive department consists of three main departments, each of which acts collectively:
1. Respiratory section
It's no secret that the formation of human respiration is the most important physiological process. People breathe reflexively, without really thinking about it. Breathing is carried out by special centers of the human nervous system, and it consists of three continuous and successive phases:
- pause
- exhalation
A person always speaks while exhaling, and the flow of air created by him simultaneously performs two functions: voice-forming and articulatory. Any violation of this rule distorts the sound of speech. That is why it is very important to spend time working on.
The respiratory organs include the lungs, bronchi, trachea, intercostal muscles, and the diaphragm. It is on it that the main muscles of a person rely. The diaphragm is an elastic muscle that is dome-shaped when relaxed. When it and the intercostal muscles contract, the volume of the human chest increases and inhalation occurs. And vice versa, when they relax, exhale.
2. Voice
It is necessary to remember about correct posture, thanks to which the voice-speech apparatus functions better. To do this, keep your head straight and your back straight, do not slouch, straighten your shoulders, bring your shoulder blades together a little. In addition, this habit of correct posture helps improve your appearance.
For people whose activities involve prolonged speaking, the ability to relax the speech organs and restore the functionality of the speech apparatus is of great importance. Relaxation involves rest and relaxation, which is provided by special exercises. They are recommended to be performed at the end of speech technique classes and immediately after prolonged speaking, when vocal fatigue sets in.
1. Relaxation pose
You may have read in specialized literature about the pose and relaxation mask. That is, about relaxation, removing muscle “tensions”. To achieve this pose, you need to sit and lean forward slightly, while bending your back and bowing your head. The legs rest on the entire foot and should be placed at right angles to each other. Your hands are on your hips, your hands hanging freely. Close your eyes. And relax all your muscles as much as possible.
In this relaxation pose, you can use certain forms of auto-training, which will provide the most complete relaxation and rest.
While sitting, relax all your muscles as much as possible.
2. Her mask
Owning a relaxation mask is no less important for an orator or speaker. To do this, you should alternately tense and relax different groups of facial muscles. How to “put on” masks of joy, surprise, melancholy, and so on. After this, relax all muscles. To do this, say the sound " T"exhale gently and leave the lower jaw in a lowered position.
Make faces, tense and relax your face - this can improve your sound pronunciation
Relaxation is one of the hygiene of speech activity. Its general requirements: protection from unwanted hypothermia and colds. Avoid anything that irritates the mucous membrane. Follow a specific method of training the speech apparatus, follow the rules for performing speech technique exercises and wisely alternate between loads and rest.
Each speech sound is not only a physical, but also a physiological phenomenon, since the human central nervous system is involved in the formation and perception of speech sounds. From a physiological point of view, speech appears as one of its functions. Pronouncing a speech sound is a rather complex physiological process. A certain impulse is sent from the speech center of the brain, which travels along the nerves to the speech organs that carry out the command of the speech center. It is generally accepted that the direct source of the formation of speech sounds is a stream of air pushed out from the lungs through the bronchi, trachea and oral cavity to the outside. Therefore, the speech apparatus is considered both in the broad and narrow sense of the word.
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In a broad sense, the concept speech apparatus include the central nervous system, the organs of hearing (and vision - for written speech), necessary for the perception of sounds, and the organs of speech, necessary for the production of sounds. The central nervous system is responsible for the production of speech sounds. It is also involved in the perception of speech sounds from the outside and awareness of them.
Speech organs, or the speech apparatus in the narrow sense, consist of the respiratory organs, larynx, supraglottic organs and cavities. The organs of speech are often compared to a wind instrument: the lungs are bellows, the windpipe is a pipe, and the oral cavity is valves. In fact, the speech organs are controlled by the central nervous system, which sends commands to various parts of the speech organs. In accordance with these commands, the speech organs make movements and change their positions.
Respiratory organs- these are the lungs, bronchi and windpipe (trachea). The lungs and bronchi are the source and conductor of the air stream, forcing exhaled air through the tension of the muscles of the diaphragm (the abdominal barrier).
Rice. 1. Breathe-helping machine:
1 - thyroid cartilage; 2 - cricoid cartilage; 3 - windpipe (trachea); 4 - bronchi; 5 - terminal branches of bronchial branches; 6 - apex of the lungs; 7 - bases of the lungs
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Larynx, or larynx(from the Greek larynx - larynx) is the upper expanded part of the trachea. The larynx contains the vocal apparatus, consisting of cartilage and muscles. The skeleton of the larynx is formed by two large cartilages: the cricoid (in the form of a ring, the signet of which faces backward) and the thyroid (in the form of two connected shields protruding at an angle forward; the protrusion of the thyroid cartilage is called the Adam's apple, or Adam's apple). The cricoid cartilage is fixedly connected to the trachea and is, as it were, the base of the larynx. On the top of the cricoid cartilage there are two small arytenoid, or pyramidal, cartilages, which look like triangles and can move apart and move towards the center, rotate inward or outward.
Rice. 2. Larynx
A. Larynx in front: 1 - thyroid cartilage; 2 - cricoid cartilage; 3 - hyoid bone; 4 - middle thyrohyoid ligament I (connecting the thyroid cartilage to the hyoid bone); 5 - middle cricothyroid ligament; 6 - trachea
B. Larynx from behind: 1 - thyroid cartilage; 2 - cricoid cartilage; 3 - upper horns of the thyroid cartilage; 4 - lower horns of the thyroid cartilage; 5 - arytenoid cartilages; 6 - epiglottis; 7 - membranous (posterior) part of the trachea
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Across the larynx, obliquely from the top of the front part to the bottom of the back part, two elastic muscular folds are stretched in the form of a curtain, converging in two halves towards the middle - the vocal cords. The upper edges of the vocal cords are attached to the inner walls of the thyroid cartilage, the lower ones to the arytenoid cartilages. The vocal cords are very elastic and can shorten and stretch, be relaxed and tense. With the help of arytenoid cartilages, they can converge or diverge at an angle, forming a glottis of various shapes. The air pumped by the respiratory organs passes through the glottis and causes the vocal cords to tremble. Under the influence of their vibrations, sounds of a certain frequency arise. This begins the process of creating speech sounds.
It should be noted that, according to the neuromotor theory of voice formation, the vocal cords actively contract not under the influence of a mechanical breakthrough of exhaled air, but under the influence of a series of nerve impulses. Moreover, the frequency of vibrations of the vocal cords during the formation of speech sounds corresponds to the frequency of nerve impulses.
In any case, the process of creating sounds in the larynx is just beginning. It ends “on the upper floor” of the speech apparatus - in the supraglottic cavities with the participation of the organs of pronunciation. Here resonator tones and overtones are formed, as well as noise from the friction of air against nearby organs or from the explosion of closed organs.
The upper floor of the speech apparatus - the extension tube - begins with the pharyngeal cavity, or pharynx(from Greek phárynx - pharynx). The pharynx may narrow in its lower or middle region by contraction of the orbicularis pharyngeal muscles or by posterior displacement of the root of the tongue. Pharyngeal sounds are formed in this way in Semitic, Caucasian and some other languages. Next, the extension tube is divided into two outlet tubes - the oral cavity and the nasal cavity. They are separated by the palate (Latin palatum), the front part of which is hard (hard palate), and the back part is soft (soft palate, or velum), ending with a small tongue, or uvula (from Latin uvula - tongue). The hard palate is divided into anterior and middle.
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Depending on the position of the velum palatine, the air flow leaving the larynx can enter the oral cavity or the nasal cavity. When the velum palatine is raised and fits tightly against the back wall of the pharynx, air cannot enter the nasal cavity and must go through the mouth. Then oral sounds are formed. If the soft palate is lowered, then the passage into the nasal cavity is open. The sounds acquire a nasal coloring and nasal sounds are obtained.
Rice. 3. Pronunciation apparatus
The oral cavity is the main “laboratory” in which speech sounds are formed, since it contains mobile speech organs that, under the influence of nerve impulses coming from the cerebral cortex, produce various movements.
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The oral cavity can change its shape and volume due to the presence of movable pronunciation organs: lips, tongue, soft palate, uvula, and in some cases the epiglottis. The nasal cavity, on the contrary, acts as a resonator that is unchanged in volume and shape. The tongue plays the most active role in the articulation of most speech sounds.
Knead the tip of the tongue, the back (the part facing the palate) and the root of the tongue; The back of the tongue is divided into three parts - anterior, middle and posterior. Of course, there are no anatomical boundaries between them. The oral cavity also contains teeth, which are its solid boundary of a fixed shape, and alveoli (from the Latin alveolus - groove, notch) - tubercles at the roots of the upper teeth, which play an important role in the formation of speech sounds. The mouth is covered by lips - upper and lower, representing the soft border of a movable form.
Based on their role in pronouncing sounds, the speech organs are divided into active and passive. Active organs are mobile, they make certain movements necessary to create barriers and forms of air passage. Passive organs of speech do not produce independent work in the formation of sounds and are 1 the place where the active organ creates a bridge or gap for the passage of an air stream. The active organs of speech include the vocal cords, tongue, lips, soft palate, uvula, back of the pharynx, and the lower jaw. Passive organs are teeth, alveoli, hard palate, and the upper jaw. In the pronunciation of some sounds, active organs may not directly participate, thereby moving to the position of passive organs of speech.
The tongue is the most active organ of the human speech apparatus. Parts of the tongue have different mobility. The tip of the tongue has the greatest mobility, which can press against urubam and alveoli, bend upward towards the hard palate, form narrowings in various places, tremble near the hard palate, etc.. The back of the tongue can close with the hard and soft palate or rise towards them, forming narrowings.
Of the lips, the lower lip has greater mobility. It can close with the upper lip or form a labial
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narrowing By protruding forward and rounding, the lips change the shape of the resonator cavity, which creates the so-called rounded sounds.
The small uvula, or uvula, may quiver intermittently against the back of the tongue.
In Arabic, the epiglottis, or epiglottis, is involved in the formation of some consonants (hence epiglottis, or epiglottal, sounds), which physiologically covers the larynx at the moment food passes into the esophagus.
All organs involved in the formation of speech can be divided into active and passive organs. At the same time, during speech, active organs perform various movements, forming sounds. Here are the active organs of speech:
· soft sky;
· tongue;
Posterior dorsum of pharynx;
· lower jaw.
Passive organs of speech play only a supporting role. They, in particular, determine the shape of the cavities, which, in turn, determines the resonant properties of these cavities. The following speech organs are passive:
· alveoli;
· solid sky;
· upper jaw.
Note that although the passive organs of speech are assigned an auxiliary role, their importance cannot be underestimated. The absence of, for example, several teeth in the lower jaw can lead to noticeable speech defects (lisp pronunciation).
14. Articulation as the totality of the work of the speech organs. Three phases of sound articulation. Articulatory base of the language.
Articulation- this is the activity of the speech organs associated with the pronunciation of speech sounds and their various components that make up syllables and words.
Articulation (from lat. Articulatio- pronounce articulately) - the totality of the work of individual speech organs in the process of forming speech sounds.
The articulatory organs are of particular importance in the vocal apparatus. This is the most mobile part of the vocal apparatus, subject to our will and direct observation, capable of producing the finest movements with individual organs.
Articulation phases
There are three phases in articulation:
Excursion - preparation of the speech organs for pronunciation of sound, the initial movement of the speech organs (from the Latin Excursio - “running out, foray, attack”);
Exposure - the position of the speech organs at the moment of utterance (from the Latin Culmen - “top” or “excerpt”);
Recursion is the return of the speech organs to their original position (from the Latin Recursio - “return, retreat”).
in phonetics, a successively acquired structure of the speech organs for sound production, familiar to all members of a given language community and varying to a greater or lesser extent in different language groups. Each linguistic community (language, dialect, dialect) has its own set of habitual pronunciation skills, that is, its own A. b. To master the correct pronunciation of the language being studied, it is necessary to master its A. b.
15. Acoustic, articulatory and functional differences between vowels and consonants.
Acoustic differences vowels from consonants is that vowels consist only of tone, and consonants always have noise
Articulatory differences the fact that the vowels have no obstacles in the way of the air stream
Functional differences in that the gl-syllable-forming element, according to the Russian language, do not perform such a function
16. Articulatory classification of vowel sounds.
1. Articulatory classification of vowel sounds
The classification of vowel sounds according to their articulation is based on various features:
1. Climb sound (lower, middle, upper) is determined by the degree of elevation of the tongue to the palate. The lower rise of the sound [a]: the tongue does not rise, and the vowels are wide because there is a large space left in the oral cavity. The average rise of the tongue for the sounds [e], [o]. The upper rise, when the tongue occupies the highest position, has the sounds [i], [s], [u]. They are also called narrow vowels because the passage for sound is narrow.
2. Row sound: front, middle and rear. When forming a vowel sound, the tongue can move forward, backward, or remain in place in the oral cavity. Row- horizontal movement of the tongue, moving the tongue forward or moving it back.
Based on the horizontal movement of the tongue, front, middle and back vowels are distinguished. When the front vowels [i], [e] are formed, the front part of the back of the tongue rises towards the front of the palate. When forming back vowels [у], [о], the back part of the back of the tongue rises towards the back of the palate. And when forming the middle vowels [ы], [а], the tongue either rises with the middle part to the middle part of the palate (as sometimes happens when pronouncing [ы]), or lies flat (as when pronouncing [a]).
3. By the participation of the lips vowels are divided into labial (labialized) and nonlabial .
Deepening(labialization, from lat. labium- lip) - articulation of sounds, in which the lips come closer, rounded and protrude forward, reducing the outlet opening and lengthening the oral resonator. Non-labialized vowels (unrounded, non-labial): [a], [e], [i], [s]; labialized (rounded) [o], [y]. The degree of rounding can be less [o] and more [y].
While listing the sciences related to speech, in the previous chapter the author deliberately did not touch on its physiological foundations - those human organs that ensure the functioning of types of speech: speaking, listening, writing, reading, internal, mental, speech. Strictly speaking, the organs of speech are not a philological topic, but a philologist who studies speech is a completely material activity - it is necessary to become familiar with at least the main blocks.
The term blocks should not be understood straightforwardly: thus, in the speaking block, the pronunciation block, we can actually name real-life organs: vocal cords, tongue, nasal cavity...
Another thing is the organs of mental, internal speech, organs that provide code transitions. When we talk about the block of perception of sounding speech, we mean both physiological organs (auricle, eardrum), and processes, mechanisms for transforming the acoustic signal, translating it into a universal subject code, according to N.I. Zhinkin.
But if, considering the blocks of speaking and listening, we, along with the processes of recoding, can name some organs, for example, the ear, then we cannot name a specific memory center; we use a hypothetical model (there is a hypothesis of the neural theory of memory associated with biocurrents; there is a chemical hypothesis).
Memory is the process of storing past experience, making it possible to reuse it in activity, in consciousness; it serves as the most important cognitive function underlying learning and development. The memory stores information encoded in the form of images and in the form of language code units and rules. It is not easy for us to understand how the form of a linguistic unit - a word - is connected in memory with a meaning, with an image or concept, but such a connection is confirmed by the fact of speech - speaking and listening.
Memory mechanisms have the following abilities: memorization, preservation, understanding, reproduction. Memory also has the ability to develop. It has a huge amount of memory. Memory exists in two forms: long-term memory and short-term, so-called working memory. Memory is part of the holistic structure of a person’s personality; the structure of information stored in memory has the ability to be restructured, for example, a person’s attitude towards his past may change.
Long-term memory is a subsystem that ensures permanent storage: language, as a rule, is stored, even in the absence of its repetition, for many decades, sometimes throughout life. But the best storage is reproduction, i.e. speech. Long-term memory not only stores a huge number of linguistic units, but also organizes them, which allows them to be transferred to operational, short-term memory at the right time. Memory preserves and reproduces linguistic units of all levels - sound standards, phonemes, rules of strong and weak positions of phonemes, intonation standards; words - also in the form of standards, correlated with meanings; phraseology and standards of word compatibility; morphological forms, rules of inflection and combination; rules and models of syntactic structures, intratextual connections, entire memorized texts, composition, plots...
The volume of linguistic (speech) memory of a person who has received a modern education amounts to hundreds of thousands of units.
The material nature of the functioning of memory, as well as the entire system that provides speech, is unknown to us, but using the modeling method it is possible, with a significant degree of probability, to assume that along with long-term there is also short-term, or operational, memory. This is also a subsystem; it provides operational retention and transformation of data transferred from long-term memory.
The RAM mechanism receives information in linguistic forms from the speech perception organs and transmits it to long-term memory.
It is in the mechanism of operational (short-term) memory that an oral or written statement is prepared and constructed. This process occurs at the level of internal speech, or thinking, with anticipation, the volume of which increases with the speech development of a person.
The utterance prepared in the RAM block is transferred to other blocks, where the “voicing” or writing of the text occurs.
The speech centers of the brain, which are in charge of all speech operations, as well as language memory, have been approximately established by physiologists in the process of correlating areas of damage to the cerebral cortex and speech defects, as well as other research methods. Science does not have accurate data that could clarify the mechanisms of the brain.
Injuries to certain areas of the brain lead to loss of speech. This, however, allows us to draw a conclusion: it is here that the acts of understanding speech, the acts of code transitions, converge and are carried out, here the content of what is spoken, the assimilation of what is heard and read is formed. The centers of self-awareness, self-control, self-esteem, intelligence are concentrated here - everything that makes up the phenomenon of human personality. A person who, for some reason, has lost his memory, language, ability to speak and think is no longer a person. Mankurt.
These centers of the human psyche are reliably protected by nature itself from uninvited intrusion not only from outsiders, but also from the subject himself.
The pronunciation apparatus, the mechanism of speaking, is easily accessible to study: these organs are known to everyone. Lungs, supplying the larynx with a stream of air necessary for the formation of speech sounds; vocal cords that vibrate when a stream of air passes and create sound, voice; resonators - oral and nasal cavities that change their configuration during speaking; movable organs that change the shape of the resonators and thereby change the sound; the soft palate, which opens and closes the nasal cavity; movable lower jaw, lips and especially tongue. All of them provide so-called articulate speech, articulating the sounds of a given language. A healthy, well-trained speech pronunciation apparatus more or less easily produces the sounds of native speech, and sometimes the sound system of two or three languages; diction is developed.
The subject has the opportunity to interfere with the work of the pronunciation organs at will: deliberately change the sound of the voice, deliberately pronounce certain sounds, speak loudly or quietly. He can train his pronunciation apparatus: artists are “given a voice”; A speech therapist eliminates a child’s lisp or “growling.”
The listening organs provide reception of acoustic signals, i.e. oral speech.
The pinna is the outer part of the device that receives acoustic speech. In humans, this organ is small and immobile: it cannot turn towards the source of received speech (unlike the ear of some animals).
The openness and accessibility of the speaking apparatus allows us to gain an understanding of the functioning of this block, except for the mechanism of code transitions. This accessibility is not available in the listening block.
Sound waves captured by the auricle cause vibration of the eardrum and are then transmitted through the system of auditory ossicles, fluids and other formations to perceptive receptor cells. From them the signal goes to the speech centers of the brain. Here the act of understanding the speech heard is performed.
Speaking, generating utterances and perceiving speech will be described in more detail in the corresponding chapters.
Conventionally, we can assume the presence of a physiological complex of coordinating and control mechanisms.
Let's turn to the mechanism of speaking. Each speech sound in the pronunciation apparatus is articulated, each sound has its own method of formation with the participation of various organs: vocal cords, tongue, etc., which forms the basis of phonetic classifications. Thus, the formation of vowels and consonants differs by the presence or absence of noise; in a similar way, pairs of voiced-voiceless consonants arise; noises are created either by a rush of air during a sharp opening of the lips, without a voice, or when the tongue is abruptly lifted from the palate, from the alveoli, from the teeth, or as a result of the passage of air through a narrow gap created between the tongue, palate, and teeth. The sound-producing capabilities of the human pronunciation apparatus are redundant; this allows a person to assimilate, although sometimes with difficulty, the sound systems of non-native languages, to achieve a clear distinction between sounds and their combinations, which helps to differentiate sounds - they are called articulate. Speech in an unfamiliar language is perceived by a person as an inarticulate acoustic stream: considerable experience in perceiving an unfamiliar language is required in order to learn to identify an increasing number of different sounds in the speech stream in this language.
The ear, more precisely, the entire complex of organs for perceiving oral speech, captures the sounds of the surrounding world, separates the sounds of speech in a familiar language, differentiates them, captures the rhythm of syllables, and identifies complexes reminiscent of phonetic words; then the resulting phonetic words are compared with the corresponding standards stored in long-term speech memory... Here we enter the realm of guesswork, and possibly scientific hypotheses.
Very little is known about the structure of the coordination system. Presumably, this system connects all blocks of speech mechanisms, speech memory, speaking, listening, writing, reading, inner speech, the world of emotions, imagination, intuition, anticipation of the possible outcome of speech, and even the possibility of different understandings of what is said and heard.
Coordination is inseparable from control and management of speech processes, especially in conditions of rapid dialogue. Therefore, the coordination system must be both central and peripheral. It covers not only speech and thought processes, but also the entire activity of the individual. Apparently, in a person as a functioning system, speech and thinking activity is the most complex and all-encompassing.
Each of us, using the method of self-observation, can notice infrequent, but inevitable failures in the coordination of speech actions: an error in stress, especially when the skill has not yet become strong (phenomenon - “phenomenon”), an accidental replacement of a letter when writing, etc. There are delays in choosing a word, errors in agreement, surprising the speaker himself and leading to a breakdown in communication.
Such introspection confirms the presence of a physiological basis for coordination in the speech-thought process.
We do not dare even assume the existence of some special organ of code transitions in internal speech. But the latter not only undoubtedly exist, but also play a vital role in speech.
In speech activity, a person uses, at a minimum, a code of oral speech, or acoustic, a code of written speech, or graphic, and a code (codes?) of internal speech, or mental. N.I. Zhinkin also used the concept of “speech-motor code” (“On code transitions in internal speech”) (Zhinkin N.I. Language. Speech. Creativity // Selected works. - M., 1998. - P. 151). Here he puts forward the hypothesis of an object-pictorial code of internal speech (p. 159). Understanding, according to Zhinkin, is a transition from one code system to another, for example, from a verbal code to an image code. He introduced the concept of a universal subject code.
It is not without reason that the problem of code transitions interests many sciences, and primarily psycholinguistics.
By the way, in non-speech activities a person uses many codes: every foreign language, dialects, jargons are codes that native speakers use, sometimes translate, and master these codes; Speech styles are intralingual codes, mathematical symbols are also a code, chemical formulas, signs used in geographical maps are all code (sign) systems. A person uses countless similar codes in external speech, in cognitive, intellectual activity.
The writing organs are a convention: nature did not provide such special organs in the human body. Apparently modern writing was invented too late. For writing a person uses:
a) organs of vision;
b) hands as organs of activity;
c) partially - legs, torso for support while writing.
The very phenomenon of writing as a transition from a mental to a graphic code (through the phonemic code, since our modern writing, in particular Russian, has a phonemic basis) is not a spontaneous action similar to thought, it is a product of the inventive ability of people.
We should not forget that writing, or written speech, the expression of thoughts in a graphic code, is served by both the speech centers of the brain, and memory - long-term and short-term, operational, and coordinating mechanisms, and even pronunciation organs, for it has been established that a person while writing makes micromovements of the pronunciation apparatus and feels these micromovements (these sensations are called kinesthesia). Writing is also complicated by the rules of graphics and spelling; these rules are complex and can be difficult to master.
Let us also note that mastering written language in both forms - writing and reading - in modern society requires special training and does not occur by itself, like the acquisition of oral speech; Self-education of children also takes place, usually 5-6 years old. It is becoming more common and progress can be expected in this area.
Reading, like writing, is also a recoding; it is provided by the visual apparatus, and in the version of loud reading - also by the pronunciation unit. The reader transcodes the text from a graphic code to a mental code and, in the version of oral reading, to an acoustic code. Understanding what is read is provided by a mental code, a code of images and concepts. They are controlled by the speech centers of the brain and operative memory.
Reading is a source of knowledge and education. It reaches a degree of automatism in the subject and is associated with the skills of conscious memorization, logical generalization, systematization of knowledge and its reproduction in speech and application in practice in appropriate situations.
Thus, the physiological basis is the same for thinking and speech; it has departments, centers that are not amenable to the control of consciousness, not subject to the volitional influences of the subject; the material nature of some speech organs and their functioning cannot yet be studied; it is known only at the level of hypotheses; However, the system of the organs of thought and speech is highly resilient and needs to be provided with nutrients (the system is very sensitive to inadequate nutrition, as well as to stimulants and narcotics). External organs - the eye, ear, speaking organs, etc. need training, prevention and bringing their actions to the level of skill; internal processes - recall, word choice, code transitions, etc. can also be improved.