ABSTRACT
For humans the most important auditory function is the comprehension of speech. Verbal communication is important in virtually all aspects of their existence. Speech allows information to be transmitted at a high rate and is remarkably resistant to interference from other sounds. The intelligibility of the speech waveform is remarkably robust, being impervious to a variety of physical transformations. The energy for speech derives from pressure produced by the diaphragm on the lungs. This pressure forces air out of the lungs up the trachea and into the pharynx, or throat cavity. The essential acoustic components for producing a speechlike sound are a volume of trapped air and several cavities. Spectrographic representations contain a considerable amount of information and appear complicated at first glance. But they are easily interpreted after some practice. Modern research in speech reception began at the Bell Telephone Laboratory in Harvey Fletcher’s group.
