Some Relations between Articulator Movement and Motor Control in Consonant-Vowel-Consonant Monosyllables

Abstract

Inferences are often made from cinefluorographic records and from electromyographic records of speech about the underlying mechanisms of articulatory control. Inferences from cinéfluorograms have the disadvantage that one cannot always distinguish between the contribution to articulator position of direct motor control and mechanical properties of the articulators (e.g., their inertia). Inferences from myographic records have the disadvantage that one cannot always tell what muscles are being activated and what movements are occurring. Consideration of both cinéfluorograms and electromyograms from the same subject avoids, to some extent, these disadvantages. This paper reports a study of both indices recorded from the same subject (on different occasions) during the production of 36 CVC monosyllables formed by every combination of initial and final consonants /b/, /d/, and /g/ and the syllable nuclei /i/, /u/, /æ/, and /ɔ/. Some illustrations of typical relations between muscle contraction and movement are given. Particular attention is given to context effects on articulator position and their relation to preceding and following articulator positions. Possible principles underlying these effects are discussed. [Investigation supported in part by the National Institute of Dental Research, National Institutes of Health, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and by the U. S. Army Electronics Command.]