Oscillatory movements of the velum: A factor of intraoral air pressure

Abstract

It is known that velar elevation in closure for speech correlates with specific sound productions. In addition, the velum has been observed to move up and down in an oscillatory manner during repeated syllable or word utterances. The purpose of this study was to determine whether this observed oscillatory movement of the soft palate is related to the build up and release of intraoral air pressure and/or to the opening and closing patterns of the mandible. Simultaneous cinefluorographic films and intraoral-air-pressure recordings were taken for three subjects during the repeated production of /ɑpɑ/, /ɑbɑ/, /ɑsɑ/ and /ɑzɑ/. From the cinefluorographic films, variations in velar and mandibular height were determined and correlated with variations in intraoral air pressure. Initial analyses indicate that the oscillatory motions of the velum associated with consonant productions are highly correlated with variations in intra-oral air pressure. These results will be discussed in terms of a theory/model of articulatory behavior for oral consonant production.