• 20 parts
  • Checked October 2026

Speech Anatomy Quiz

Find the organs of speech on a head cut down the middle, then from the lungs up.

Speech Anatomy Quiz

Name Date

Tap the tongue body

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Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. Lips
  2. Teeth
  3. Hard palate
  4. Soft palate (velum)
  5. Nasal cavity
  6. Larynx (voice box)
  7. Vocal folds
  8. Lungs
  9. Alveolar ridge
  10. Tongue tip
  11. Tongue blade
  12. Tongue body
  13. Tongue root
  14. Uvula
  15. Oral cavity (mouth)
  16. Pharynx (throat)
  17. Epiglottis
  18. Glottis
  19. Trachea (windpipe)
  20. Diaphragm

Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: the larynx, cartilage by cartilage

All 20 parts on the diagram

Show the list

The vocal tract 14

  1. Lips They close for p and b and round for some vowels.
  2. Teeth The lower lip meets the upper teeth for f and v.
  3. Hard palate The bony roof of the mouth, behind the alveolar ridge.
  4. Soft palate (velum) It lifts to shut off the nose and lowers for nasal sounds.
  5. Nasal cavity Air passes through it for nasal sounds such as m and n.
  6. Alveolar ridge The bony ridge behind the upper teeth, where t is made.
  7. Tongue tip It touches the alveolar ridge for t and d.
  8. Tongue blade The tongue's upper surface just behind the tip.
  9. Tongue body It rises to the soft palate for k and g.
  10. Tongue root The base of the tongue, facing the back of the throat.
  11. Uvula It hangs off the soft palate's end.
  12. Oral cavity (mouth) The space inside the mouth, between tongue and palate.
  13. Pharynx (throat) The space at the back of the mouth, above the larynx.
  14. Epiglottis A leaf-shaped flap above the larynx, behind the tongue root.

Lungs to larynx 6

  1. Larynx (voice box) The voice box holds the two vocal folds.
  2. Vocal folds They vibrate in the airstream to make voiced sounds.
  3. Lungs Air flowing out of them is the energy for speech.
  4. Glottis The opening between the two vocal folds.
  5. Trachea (windpipe) The windpipe joins the lungs to the larynx.
  6. Diaphragm The muscle under the lungs that works in breathing.

How this list was compiled: Every name and detail line was read on 2026-10-03 and kept only where two independent sources give it. (1) Wikipedia, text only: Place of articulation, Articulatory phonetics, Vocal tract, Soft palate, Hard palate, Uvula, Glottis, Vocal cords, Larynx and Epiglottis, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_of_articulation . (2) Essentials of Linguistics, an open textbook (2018, CC BY-SA 4.0), 2.2 How Humans Produce Speech and 2.3 Articulators, https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/essentialsoflinguistics/chapter/2-3-articulators/ . (3) Phonetics and Phonology of English: A Simplified Course-Book, Department of English, Zabid College of Education, Hodeidah University (2016 to 2017), The Vocal Tract and Speech Organs and Articulators, https://archive.org/details/PhoneticsAndPhonologyOfEnglishASimplifiedCoursebookByDrShaghi20162017 . (4) US National Cancer Institute, SEER Training Modules: Mouth; Larynx and Trachea; Mechanics of Ventilation, https://training.seer.cancer.gov/anatomy/digestive/regions/mouth.html . The drawing is our own. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry. Own original drawing; nothing traced or copied. Licence: own work

How it works

Twenty parts on two drawings. The first is the vocal tract cut down the middle, with the articulators that shape each sound. The second runs from the lungs up to the vocal folds, where the voice starts.

Read the full guide

Breath and voice

Speech starts with air flowing out of the lungs. It rises through the trachea to the larynx, where the two vocal folds can vibrate. The opening between them is the glottis.

The articulators

Above the larynx the sound is shaped in the pharynx, the mouth and the nose. The lips and the tongue move; the teeth, the alveolar ridge and the hard palate stay still. The soft palate lifts to shut off the nasal cavity or lowers to let air through it.

  • Velum is another name for the soft palate.
  • Tip, blade, body, root: the tongue is named from front to back.

Questions and answers

What are the organs of speech?

The lungs, the trachea, the larynx with its vocal folds, the pharynx, the tongue, the soft and hard palate, the alveolar ridge, the teeth, the lips and the nasal cavity. They supply the air, make the voice and shape the sounds.

What is the difference between active and passive articulators?

Active articulators move: the lips and the parts of the tongue. Passive articulators stay still while an active one touches or comes near them: the upper teeth, the alveolar ridge and the hard palate, for example.

What does the soft palate do in speech?

For sounds made in the mouth it rests against the back of the throat and shuts off the nasal cavity. For nasal sounds such as m and n it is pulled away, and air passes through the nose.

Where is the alveolar ridge?

It is the bony ridge just behind the upper front teeth. The tip of the tongue touches it for t and d.

What is the glottis?

The opening between the two vocal folds in the larynx. The folds are held open for a voiceless sound such as s and vibrate for a voiced sound such as z.

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