Published Article

ABSTRACT Spoken language communication is arguably the most important activity that distinguishes humans from non-human species. This paper provides an overview of speech as a sound source.While many animal species communicate and exchange information using sound, humans are unique in the complexity of the information that can be conveyed using speech, and in the range of ideas, thoughts and emotions that can be expressed. Speech is one of the most salient and important sound sources for the human listener. As with many other natural sound sources, a listener can localize the direction from which a signal originated and can even determine some of the physical characteristics of the sound-producing object and event. But the real value of the speech signal lies not just in where the sound came from or by whom the sound was created, but in the linguistic message that it carries. The intended message of the speaker is the real sound source of speech and the ability of listeners to apprehend this message in spite of varying talker and communication characteristics is the focus of this study. KEYWORDS: Language, communication, Speech, Sound Source