What is Speech?
:''For 'speech', meaning a ''talk'', see [[Public speaking]]'' '''Speech''' is when [[wikt:speak|spoken]] [[language]] is used to [[communication|communicate]]. Only humans have language. [[Animal]]s do not have speech, but some (birds are a good example) can communicate with each other by using [[nonverbal communication|sounds and gestures]].<ref>Lieberman, Philip. 1991. Uniquely Human: the evolution of speech, thought, and selfless behavior. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-92182-5. OCLC 21764294</ref><ref>Lieberman, Philip. 2006. Toward an evolutionary biology of language. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02184-6. OCLC 62766735.</ref><ref>Lieberman P. 2007. The evolution of human speech: its anatomical and neural bases. ''Current Anthropology''. '''48''' (1): 39–66. doi:10.1086/509092. S2CID 28651524.</ref> Speech is made by sounds vibrating the [[vocal folds]]. Sounds through the voice box is shaped by the jaw, tongue, teeth, [[palate]], lips, and nose. To make speech a person has to be able to: #choose speech sounds #put them into a sequence #produce sound in the voice box #use the lips, tongue, teeth, nose and palate to shape the sounds Difficulties can happen at any stage of this four-stage process. A [[speech and language therapist]] can help work out the stage of the sequence that has difficulties and give therapy.<ref>Bauman-Waengler J. 2000. ''Articulatory & phonological impairments: a clinical focus''. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.</ref><ref>Stackhouse J. and Wells B. 1997. ''Children’s speech and literacy difficulties''. London: Whurr.</ref> Effective speech includes the following elements – fluency, flexibility, accuracy, and comprehensibility. * '''Fluency''' is the ability to communicate an intended message, or affect the listener in the way that is intended by the speaker. *'''Flexibility''' is the ability to adjust the message according to the responses of the listener. It also involves choosing words and ex