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'''Oral communication''' or '''Speech communication''' refers to the processes associated with the [[speech production|production]] and [[speech perception|perception]] of [[sounds]] used in [[spoken language]]. A number of academic disciplines study speech and speech sounds, including [[acoustics]], [[psychology]], [[speech pathology]], [[linguistics]], and [[computer science]].

==Speech production==
{{main| Speech production}}
In linguistics (articulatory phonetics), manner of articulation describes how the tongue, lips, and other speech organs are involved in making a sound make contact. Often the concept is only used for the production of consonants. For any place of articulation, there may be several manners, and therefore several homorganic consonants.

==Speech perception==
{{main| Speech perception}}
Speech perception refers to the processes by which humans are able to interpret and understand the sounds used in language. The study of speech perception is closely linked to the fields of phonetics and phonology in linguistics and cognitive psychology and perception in psychology. Research in speech perception seeks to understand how human listeners recognize speech sounds and use this information to understand spoken language. Speech research has applications in building computer systems that can recognize speech, as well as improving speech recognition for hearing- and language-impaired listeners.

==Problems involving speech==

{{seealso| Speech disorders}}
{{seealso| Speech and language pathology}}

There are several biological and psychological factors that can affect speech. Among these are:

#Diseases and disorders of the [[lung]]s or the [[vocal cords]], including [[paralysis]], respiratory infections, [[vocal fold nodules]] and [[cancer]]s of the lungs and throat.
#Diseases and disorders of the [[brain]], including [[alogia]], [[aphasia]]s, [[dysarthria]], [[dystonia]] and [[speech processing]] disorders, where impaired motor planning, nerve transmission, phonological processing or perception of the message (as opposed to the actual sound) leads to poor speech production.
#Hearing problems, such as [[otitis media]] effusion can lead to phonological problems.
#Articulatory problems, such as [[stuttering]], [[lisp (speech)|lisping]], [[cleft palate]], [[ataxia]], or [[nerve]] damage leading to problems in [[articulation]].  [[Tourette syndrome]] and [[tic]]s can also affect speech.
#In addition to aphasias, [[anomia]] and certain types of [[dyslexia]] can impede the quality of auditory perception, and therefore, expression.  [[Hearing impairment]]s and [[deaf]]ness can be considered to fall into this category.

==Brain physiology==
[[File:Paul Broca.jpg|thumb|right|180px|[[Paul Broca]]]]
Two areas of the cerebral cortex are necessary for speech. Broca's area, named after its discoverer, French neurologist [[Paul Broca]] (1824-1880), is in the frontal lobe, usually on the left, near the motor cortex controlling muscles of the lips, jaws, soft palate and vocal cords. When damaged by a stroke or injury, comprehension is unaffected but speech is slow and labored and the sufferer will talk in "telegramese". Wernicke's area, discovered in 1874 by German neurologist [[Carl Wernicke]] (1848-1904), lies to the back of the temporal lobe, again, usually on the left, near the areas receiving auditory and visual information. Damage to it destroys comprehension - the sufferer speaks fluently but nonsensically. Some researchers have explored the connections between brain physiology, neuroscience, and other elements of physiology to that of communication. [[Communibiology]] first proposed by Beatty and McCroskey address these issues and presents a set of specific axioms about these phenomena.

==See also==
*[[Alallia]]
*[[Avoidance speech]]
*[[Code switching]]
*[[Esophageal speech]]
*[[Imagined speech]]
*[[Index of linguistics articles]]
*[[Logorrhoea]]
*[[Oral reading]]
*[[Public speaking]]
*[[Rhetoric]]
*[[Self talk]]
*[[Singing]]
*[[Source–filter model of speech production]]
*[[Speech act]]
*[[Speech delay]]
*[[Speech disorder]]
*[[Speech encoding]]
*[[Speech processing (mechanical)]]
*[[Speech recognition]]
*[[Speech repetition]]
*[[Speech synthesis]]
*[[Speech-language pathology]]
*[[Spoken language]]
*[[Talking bird]]s
*[[Vocalization]]
*[[Oracy]]
*[[Verbal ability]]
*[[Verbal fluency]]
*[[Verbosity]]
*[[Vocalization]]
*[[Vocology]]
*[[Voice]]

[[Category:Oral communication]]
[[Category:Verbal communication]]

{{enWP|Speech communication}}