Articulatory activity and aerodynamic variation during voiceless consonant production

Abstract

The production of voiceless consonants is associated with changes in oral air pressure which reflect the time course and coordination of the requisite laryngeal and supralaryngeal articulations. The present experiments were conducted in order to characterize more precisely the relationships among glottal and supraglottal activities and the resulting aerodynamic changes in the vocal tract. In the first experiment, simultaneous recordings were made of glottal articulation (obtained via transillumination), two-dimensional lip and jaw movements, and air pressure variation during the production of voiceless labial consonants. In the second experiment, two-dimensional motion of the jaw and multiple points on the tongue were obtained along with air pressure during the production of voiceless lingual consonants. Analysis focused on the time-varying changes in the pressure waveform and the accompanying articulatory motion. The data suggest that the overall time course of pressure variation depends largely on the timing of the laryngeal devoicing gesture. However, details in the pressure waveforms showed a close correspondence to the time course of supraglottal articulations. Taken together, results suggest that laryngeal and supralaryngeal timing is highly constrained, and that different articulators contribute uniquely to producing pressure variations within the vocal tract. [Work supported by NIH.]