Vocal organs

We have shown in the previous sections how the vocal organs can organise into a rich variety of configurations which in turn can produce a rich variety of speech sounds. We have also seen that the differences in vocal organ configurations can produce patterns which are discernible in the acoustic signal and representations derived from it. We now turn to the question of how this capability can be used to communicate. 

As with any modelling process, we have to reach a compromise between a model which accurately describes the phenomena in question, and one which is simple, effective and suited to praetieal needs. If we tried to capture every aspect of the vocal organs directly, we would have to accoimt for every muscle movement, articulator shape and tissue absorption characteristic directly, and then determine how each of these affected how speech production. This would be a huge undertaking, and even if an accurate description of all these factors could be determined, the result may be too complicated for useful analysis. We therefore have to make quite a niunber of simplifying assumptions in order to obtain a usable model. 

Figure 11.1 A diagram and a model of the vocal organs (a) a mid-sagittal drawing of vocal organs and (b) a model of vocal organs with discrete components identified.

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