Chapter 1: Speech language and Thought 1. Syntax Syntax is the word structure of a sentence; rules for combining words into sentences. Syntax allows us to specify what is grammatical and what is not. The rules of syntax determine word, phrase, and clause order, the relationship between words, and sentence organization. The most important element of a sentence are nouns and verb phrases. When we read a phrase, we naturally expect a verb to follow the subject. For example, “An Avian veterinarian is trained to specialize in birds.” “An avian veterinarian” would be the subject followed by the verb “is” therefore, we already expect the following verb “train” to end in –ed to mark it as past tense. If a sentence does not contain these characteristics, …show more content…
The oral cavity is one of the three major resonators also including the nasal cavity and the pharyngeal cavity. The velopharyngeal port decides what resonating cavity, the nasal or the oral, the airflow will travel through. For example, there are three nasal sounds, the /m/, /n/, and the /ng/ sound. When these sounds are being produced, the velopharyngeal port closes forcing the air to go to the nasal cavity. Some sounds require both the nasal and the oral cavity. Sounds that vibrate or are voiced, are resonated in the vocal tract. All vowels and some consonants are voiced, but most consonants are voiceless. The oral cavity is the most important resonator for speech production. (133 words …show more content…
The velum is the soft part of the roof of your mouth all the way towards the back. The velum consists of a muscle called the levator palatine which is used to elevate or lower the soft palate during speech production and closes the entrance to the nasal cavities. The function of this muscle helps the soft palate move up and down in order to make contact the pharynx. This process is called the velopharyngeal closure. Velopharyngeal closure happens with the production of all the vowel sounds in the English language, and all the consonants except for the three nasal consonants which are the /m/, /n/, and the /ng/. During the production of the nasal sounds, the velopharyngeal port is opened and the airflow is allowed to travel into the nasal cavity. (141 words