French Language > Pronunciation

The Organs of Speech (From the Neck Up)

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 I. Sagittal Diagram

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II. The Tongue, the Mouth-Top, & Consonants They Make

The tongue is divided into four parts: tip, blade, back, and root; the first three are used in speech production in French and English.

The top of the mouth is divided into four parts: the dental region (the alveolar ridge), the hard palate, the soft palate (the velum), and the uvula.

Not surprisingly (given the rules of our physical universe), corresponding parts of the tongue and the top of the mouth pair up, as it were, in the production of speech.

A. Apico-dental: Tip of Tongue & Upper Teeth

The tip of the tongue touches right behind the upper teeth¹ to make

[t, d, s, z, n, l, r ² ]

B. Lamino-Palatal: Blade of Tongue & Palate

The blade of the tongue works together with the very beginning of the hard palate, just as you are coming off the alveolar ridge; it is therefore called prepalatal or alveolar-palatal. The sounds produced:

[ʃ, ʒ, ʧ, ʤ, ɲ, ʎ]

C. Dorso-Velar: Back of Tongue and Velum

The back of the tongue and and the soft palate or velum (the part of the roof of the mouth where the cartilage stops) produce:

[k, g, ŋ, χ (?) ]

D. Dorso(?)-Uvular(?): Back of the Tongue and the Uvula

The back of the tongue ³ and the uvula together produce (putatively) the arch-typical French r, called le r grasseyeux.

[χ (unvoiced), ʁ (voiced)]

But are these sounds really uvular? Il est permis d’en douter.  See The French “r”.

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III. English-French Glossary to the Diagram

English Term	French Term	Gender
nasal cavity (-ies) 4	cavités (OU fosses) nasales	f., f.
nostril	nare	f.
lips	lèvres	f.
buccal (OR oral OR mouth) cavity	cavité buccale OU orale	f.
teeth	dents	f.
gums 5	gencives	f.
alveolar ridge 6	crête alvéolaire, alvéoles	f., m.
roof of the mouth OR palate	palais	m.
1) hard palate 7	palais dur	m.
2) soft palate OR velum 8	palais mou OU voile	m., m.
uvula 9	luette OU uvule	f., f.
tongue	langue	f.
1) tip	apex OU pointe	m., f.
2) blade OR front	lame	f.
3) back	dos	m.
4) root	racine	f.
pharynx 10	pharynx	m.
epiglottis 11	épiglotte	f.
larynx (voice box)	larynx	m.
glottis 12	glotte	f.
vocal cords OR folds	cordes vocales OU plis vocaux	f., m.

 

1. Either on the teeth themselves, or their gums, or the hard ridge (called “the alveolar ridge”) behind them.[↩]
2. This “r” is the trilled “r” [r], not the typical French “r” [ʁ] nor the typical American “r” [ɹ].[↩]
3. Is it the BACK of the tongue, or the ROOT of the tongue, that connects with the uvula to make this sound?[↩]
4. The nasal cavities are used, with the velum lowered, for nasal vowels & consonants.[↩]
5. Only the gums behind the teeth are used for making speech sounds.[↩]
6. The alveolar ridge is after the gums and before the palate. Alveolus is Latin for “a small cavity”; here, the individual holes for each tooth.[↩]
7. The hard palate is between the alveolar ridge and the velum.[↩]
8. The velum (Latin for “veil, cloth, covering, awning”) is lowered to allow air to pass through the nose and (thus) to produce nasal vowels and consonants.[↩]
9. The uvula (Latin for “little grape”) a projection at the edge of the soft palate.[↩]
10. The part of the throat behind the nasal and buccal cavities (= the mouth). Serves as passage-way for the the digestive & the respiratory systems.[↩]
11. The epiglottis doesn’t precisely help you with speech, except for keeping you alive while you are swallowing.[↩]
12. The glottis is the hole in between the vocal cords when they are relaxed.[↩]

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