What are speech sounds?
Speech sounds are the sounds we say in words. We use lots of different sounds when we are talking, and we join them together to make words. For example, the word ‘cat’ contains the sounds /k/- /a/ -/t/, and the word ‘dog’ contains the sounds /d/-/o/-/g/.
When we say the right sounds in the right order, our speech is clear and understandable. If a child pronounces a word unclearly, this may be because they are using a different sound, missing off a sound, or saying a sound differently.
To make a sound, we need air from our lungs and vibrations in our voice box to make noise, and then we use our mouths to shape that noise into speech sounds. We use our teeth, lips, tongue, and jaw to create different sounds. For example, we press both of our lips together to make a /b/ sound, and we tap the tip of our tongue behind our top teeth to make a /t/ sound.
This video from our colleagues at Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust shows you how we use our mouths to make different sounds:
Last updated25 Jul 2024