How Do We Talk?

Talking is a form of communication most people use to express their thoughts and feelings. But, do you ever wonder HOW we make the words come out of our mouths? Speaking begins with a person’s thought and results in the formation of words and sentences to express that thought. The act of speaking occurs by air coming from the lungs, through the vocal folds, and out of the mouth. We shape sounds using our tongue (tip, blade, front, back), upper and lower lips, upper and lower teeth, and the roof of the mouth (alveolar ridge, palate, velum) in order to say specific sounds and words. Speech sounds differ by voice, place—where sounds are made in the mouth—and manner—the type of sound (Trujillo, n.d., ¶ 8).