Speech (?), n. [OE. speche, AS. sp&?;c, spr&?;, fr. specan, sprecan, to
speak; akin to D. spraak speech, OHG. sprhha, G. sprache, Sw. spr&?;k,
Dan. sprog. See Speak.] 1. The faculty of uttering articulate sounds or
words; the faculty of expressing thoughts by words or articulate
sounds; the power of speaking.
There is none comparable to the variety of instructive expressions
by speech, wherewith man alone is endowed for the communication of
his thoughts.
Holder.
2. he act of speaking; that which is spoken; words, as expressing
ideas; language; conversation.
Speech is voice modulated by the throat, tongue, lips, etc., the
modulation being accomplished by changing the form of the cavity of the
mouth and nose through the action of muscles which move their walls.
O goode God! how gentle and how kind Ye seemed by your speech and
your visage The day that maked was our marriage.
Chaucer.
The acts of God . . . to human ears Can nort without process of
speech be told.
Milton.