The Speech Chain

The Physics and Biology of Spoken Language

Plot

Speech is usually taken for granted- a tool used with great ease when one person communicates with another. Yet this common, daily activity is extremely important. The ability to communicate person-to-person sets humans apart from other animals, facilitates abstract reasoning and contributes significantly to the development of human societies.

Spoken communication is not a simple process. A complex chain of events links speaker to listener. The study of this speech chin involves not only physics and acoustics but also anatomy, physiology, psychology and linguistics.

The Speech Chain is an explanation of processes involved in spoken communication, from the speaker production of words, through transmission of sound, to the listener's perception of what has been said.The mechanism of hearing is also described.The final chapter discusses how current knowledge of the speech chain is being applied to develop machines that speak or respond to spoken words.

This interdisciplinary account is understandable even to persons with no previous knowledge of the fields involved and my be especially useful for students of speech science, speech pathologists and teachers of the deaf.