Patterns of interarticulator coordination within the syllable

Abstract

Interarticulatory coordination patterns were observed in movements of the crucial articulator for the production of place in selected syllables containing labiodental and alveolar consonants. The coordination of the lower lip with upper lip and tongue tip, and the coordination of the tongue tip with tongue blade and lower lip have been observed. The goals of the study were (a) to verify whether stable patterns of speed with respect to excursion of movement [Fujimura, O., ‘‘Temporal organization of articulatory movements as a multidimensional phrase structure,’’ Phonetica, 38, 66–83 (1981a); ‘‘Icebergs revised,’’ ASA meeting, 2aSC (1996b)], were found in concurrent articulators to the crucial one for place, under different prosodic conditions; (b) whether such stable portions would vary proportionally to the increase in amplitude of the vertical jaw movement, selected as a measure of the magnitude of the syllable; (c) to observe relative timing at the iceberg thresholds in the selected consonantal movements with respect to the center of the syllable. Analyses were performed on articulatory recordings from cinefluorographic data, based on read dialogues [Erickson et al., ‘‘Articulatory correlates of prosodic control: Emotion and emphasis,’’ Lang. Speech, 41, 399–417 (1998)]. Iceberg patterns were found in the concurrent articulator movements, showing a linear dependence of slope on the total excursion of the demisyllabic movement. Timing of concurrent articulator movements with respect to the center of the syllable is shown to be relatively stable.