How Important Is The Tongue To Speech?

During speech the tongue movements are perhaps the most precise movements that this organ can make. By touching and not touching the teeth and the roof of the mouth, the tongue helps in the formation and articulation of the various sounds. If you say the alphabet very slowly in your language, you will note the many movements your tongue has to make. Watching someone else speak is another way to appreciate its rapid movements. Some have tried to master lingual dexterity with their tongues by quickly saying what are known as tongue twisters, such as 'rubber baby buggy bumpers' and 'the sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick.'

Even some very simple words keep the tongue busy. Take the word "things," for example. By pressing lightly against the backs of the upper teeth, so as to interfere with the breath stream and produce the requisite friction, the tongue articulates the voiceless "th." It then moves downward and backward and then up again to point the tip toward the ridge so as to direct a constricted, compressed breath stream against the cutting edges of the lower teeth. The tongue then is active in articulating the "s." Just for one word there can be a lot of movement by this bundle of muscles. Multiply this by 150 to 200 words per minute, and you can see how fast the tongue must move to keep up with your mind.

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