Speaking with a Lisp
A lisp is a speech impediment that affects the way an individual says words that contain the letters s and z. Most lisps are caused by incorrect tongue placement when speaking. Overbites and underbites can also cause an individual to have a lisp.
Many of my clients come to me for accent reduction and I find that they have a lisp that was never corrected and is present in their own language as well as in English.
There are four aspects to a lisp:
- Interdental lisp: This takes place when the tongue pops in and out during speech.
- Lateral lisp: This is a reference to the wet sound that is produced due to air breaking away from the sides of the tongue. It makes the /s/ sound appear “slushy”.
- Dentalised lisp: This takes place when a person put their tongues and pushes air outward. This results in the production of muffled sounds.
- Palatal lisp: This takes place when the tongue’s mid section brushes against the soft palate.
16.3% of people who lisp, or who had problems with the /r/ sound, said that people had problems understanding them, and 38.9% of that same population said that they felt insecure in speech situations and that their speech differences interfered with their work or social life.
In addition, men who lisp are often perceived by strangers as having lower levels of speaking ability, intelligence, education, masculinity, and friendliness. Women who lisp are often considered by strangers to be less cooperative, kind, and friendly.
If you have a lisp, there are many effective techniques and exercises that we can work with to teach you to eliminate it.
