Introduction to speech, Organs of Speech - JSS1 English Language Past Questions and Answers - page 1

Articulation refers to the physical movements and coordination of speech organs (such as the tongue, lips, and palate) to produce speech sounds.

- Lips

   - Teeth

   - Alveolar ridge

   - Hard palate

   - Soft palate (velum)

   - Uvula

   - Tongue

   - Pharynx

   - Glottis

   - Vocal cords

In English, there are approximately 20 vowel sounds.

In English, there are approximately 20 vowel sounds.

In English, there are approximately 24 consonant sounds.

   In English, there are 5 long vowels: /iː/ (as in "see"), /eɪ/ (as in "say"), /ɑː/ (as in "father"), /ɔː/ (as in "thought"), and /uː/ (as in "blue").

In English, there are 5 short vowels:

/ɪ/ (as in "sit"),

/ɛ/ (as in "met"),

/æ/ (as in "cat"),

/ɒ/ (as in "hot"),

/ʌ/ (as in "cup").

Pure vowels are speech sounds that have a single, unchanging sound quality throughout their duration. They are also known as monophthongs.

 A diphthong is a complex vowel sound that begins with one vowel quality and glides smoothly into another within the same syllable.
Examples include /aɪ/ (as in "price"), /ɔɪ/ (as in "coin"), and /eɪ/ (as in "face").