Speech facts for kids

For 'speech', meaning a talk, see Public speaking

Speech is how humans use spoken language to communicate. It's how we share ideas and feelings using sounds. When two people talk, it's called a conversation.

Speech happens when sounds travel through the air. These sounds start in your voice box. Then, your lips, tongue, teeth, nose, and palate (the roof of your mouth) shape them into words.

How We Make Speech

To make speech, your body does a few amazing things:

1. You choose the right speech sounds.
2. You put these sounds in the correct order to form words and sentences.
3. You make sounds using your voice box (also called the larynx).
4. You use your lips, tongue, teeth, nose, and palate to shape these sounds clearly.

When Speech Is Difficult

Sometimes, people have trouble with one or more of these steps.

• Problems with choosing or ordering sounds are called phonological difficulties.
• Problems with making the sounds with your mouth parts are called articulation difficulties or motor co-ordination difficulties.

A speech and language therapist is a professional who can help figure out where the difficulty is. They can then provide special therapy to help people speak more clearly.

How We Study Speech

Scientists and researchers study many parts of speech. They look at how we make sounds (speech production) and how our brains understand them (speech perception). They also study how we repeat words, why we make speech errors, and how children learn new words.

Scientists are very interested in how different parts of the human brain help us speak. Two important areas are Broca's area and Wernicke's area. These areas help us produce and understand language.

Many different fields study speech, including:

• Linguistics (the study of language)
• Cognitive science (how the mind works)
• Psychology (the study of the mind and behavior)
• Computer science (especially for things like voice recognition)
• Speech–language pathology (helping people with speech problems)
• Otolaryngology (ear, nose, and throat medicine)
• Acoustics (the science of sound)

Understanding What Others Say

When someone speaks, we hear what they say. Usually, we understand it. But sometimes, language can be tricky. It might be unclear, confusing, or even misleading.

Speech can also be changed from one language to another through translation. This allows people who speak different languages to understand each other.

Images for kids

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  Broca's and Wernicke's areas are important for speech in the brain.

See also

In Spanish: Habla para niños