Interarticulator programming in stop production

Abstract

The problem of speech motor control has usually been seen as one of accomodating in space and time the articulatory demands for successive units, segments or syllables, in the speech chain. Models for speech motor control thus rarely have any intrasegmental temporal domain, but such a domain is necessary for certain classes of speech sounds and the present paper discusses one such instance in the production of Swedish stops.Voiceless obstruent production requires precise temporal control and coordination of several articulatory systems, and here we examine the coordination of laryngeal and oral articulations in stop production using the transillumination technique and aerodynamic records. The main difference between aspirated and unaspirated stops seems to be one of interarticulator timing, and timing also appears to be the way in which the articularory system solves the problem of controlling glottal opening at release in aspirated stops. The results are discussed in relation to stop production in general, and some basic characteristics of laryngeal articulatory gestures are outlined as well as some implications for theories of speech motor control.