Puheelimistön

Puheelimistön, commonly referred to in Finnish as puhe-elimistö, denotes the speech apparatus or vocal tract. The puhe-elimistö comprises the structures involved in producing, shaping, and transmitting speech sounds and is typically described as including four subsystems: respiratory, phonatory, resonatory, and articulatory.

The respiratory subsystem supplies the air flow necessary for phonation. It includes the lungs, trachea, rib cage, and diaphragm, providing subglottal pressure that drives voice production. The phonatory subsystem centers on the larynx and its vocal folds, whose vibration produces voiced sounds and determines pitch and loudness. The resonatory subsystem consists of the pharyngeal, oral, and nasal cavities, which modify sound through resonance and filter. The articulatory subsystem uses the tongue, lips, teeth, hard and soft palate, jaw, and associated muscles to shape the sounds into distinct speech elements such as vowels and consonants.

Speech production involves a coordinated sequence: respiration supports steady air flow; phonation generates voicing; articulation and resonance sculpt the sound into intelligible language. Neural control links language centers in the brain with motor pathways that coordinate the muscles of the mouth, larynx, and chest. Key brain regions include areas in the left hemisphere involved in language planning and execution, such as Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas, integrated with motor cortex and subcortical circuits.

Development and clinical relevance: typical development progresses from babbling to targeted speech, with variations in pace and clarity among individuals. Speech disorders can affect any subsystem and include dysarthria, apraxia of speech, stuttering, and anomalies from cleft palate or hearing impairment. Diagnosis and therapy often involve multidisciplinary approaches, including speech-language pathology, audiology, and otolaryngology.