Page:An outline of English phonetics ... with 131 illustrations (IA cu31924027389505).pdf/24

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31. The roof of the mouth is divided, for the purposes of phonetics, into three parts called the teeth-ridge, the hard palate, and the soft palate. The teeth-ridge is defined as the part of the roof of the mouth just behind the teeth which is convex to the tongue, the division between the teeth-ridge and the palate being defined as the point where the roof of the mouth ceases to be convex to the tongue and begins to be concave (see fig. 1). The remainder of the roof of the mouth comprises the other two parts, the front part constituting the hard palate, and the back part the soft palate. These two parts should be examined carefully in the looking-glass; they may be felt with the tongue or with the finger. The soft palate can be moved upwards from the position shown in fig. 1, and when raised to its fullest extent it touches the back wall of the pharynx as in fig. 10 (see also § 97).

32. The pharynx is the cavity situated in the throat immediately behind the mouth. Below it is the larynx which forms the upper part of the windpipe (the passage leading to the lungs). The epiglottis is a sort of lid to the larynx. It is probably lowered so as to close the larynx during the action of swallowing, but it does not appear to enter into the formation of any speech sounds.

33. For the purposes of phonetics it is convenient to imagine the surface of the tongue divided into three parts (see fig. 1). The part opposite the soft palate when the tongue is in the position of rest is called the back; the part opposite the hard palate when the tongue is in the position of rest is called the front: and the part opposite