Formant frequencies of some fixed-mandible vowels and a model of speech motor programming by predictive simulation (original) (raw)

Neutralizing differences in mandible displacement for English vowels

2013

Maximum mandible displacement in the syllable varies primarily by vowel quality, syllable position in the phrase, lexical and phrasal stress, prosodic conditions, and the syllable consonantal periphery. EMA recordings were made of CVC syllables in 3-word phrases uttered by an American English speaker, where each target CVC word occurred in phrase initial, middle and final position, in order to ascertain the effect of vowel quality and phrase position on mandible displacement in the vertical plane, independent of other factors. Eleven English vowels formed the syllable nuclei, voiceless stops //p, t, k// formed the syllable periphery, and the intonation pattern was kept constant for each phrase. Mandible displacement was measured by coil placement at the midline of the base of the lower incisors. The maximum mandibular displacement on the vertical axis (z-axis for 3D EMA) was measured for each target CVC word. For each of the 11 vowels, an algorithm was developed to neutralize the differences in the contribution of mandibular vertical excursion in each of the three phrasal positions. These results indicate that this method may neutralize the vertical mandibular contribution to differences in phonological vowel quality in different phrasal positions.

Acoustical Consequences of Lip, Tongue, Jaw, and Larynx Movement

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1970

An articulatory model is presented. It defines a procedure for deriving a set of formant frequencies from information on the state of the lip muscles, the position of the jaw, the shape and position of the tongue body, and larynx height. The acoustic and auditory consequences of varying these parameters individually are reported. The introduction of the jaw as a separate parameter-a feature not used in previous articulatory modelsImakes it possible to explain why "openness" occurs as a universal phonetic feature of vowel production. According to the explanation proposed, the degree of opening of a vowel corresponds to a position of the jaw that is optimized in the sense that it cooperates with the tongue in producing the desired area function. Such cooperation prevents excessive tongue shape deformation. Our results suggest that, in order to reflect this principle of articulatory synergism, "tongue height," although primary with respect to its acoustic consequences, should be represented as a derived feature characteristic of the final vocaltract configuration. I. ARTICULATORY PROPERTIES OF THE MODEL The primary purpose of this stud)-is to document some measurements undertaken to ascertain the relation 166 Volume 50 Number 4 (Part 2) 1971 ACOUSTIC CONSEQUENCES OF ARTICULATOR MOVEMENT FIa. 2. Tongue contours for phonologically long Swedish vowels traced from lateral x-ray pictures and plotted in relation to the mandible. The four groups of vowels are: [i, e, e, a•] (top left), [y, u, 4] (bottom left), [u] (top right), and [•e, o, o3 (bottom right). will affect vocal-tract shape, too. The present discussion is limited to non-nasal sounds, however.) 1. Jaw Component

The role of the jaw in consonant articulation

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1991

Various linguistic roles have been hypothesized for the jaw. In Browman and Goldstein’s Articulatory Phonology, it is identified as the common articulator among gestures involving the lower lip, tongue tip, and tongue body, and Goldstein has suggested that this may underly the differentiation in Arabic phonology between oral consonants (labials, dentals, velars) and gutturals (uvulars, pharyngeals, glottals). Keating (1983) proposed that consonants are specified for relatively fixed jaw heights (sibilants higher than stops higher than glides), providing the phonetic basis for sonority sequencing constraints. Macchi (1985) proposed that jaw height during consonants reflects both a passive coarticulation with neighboring vowels, and an active suprasegmental specification (lower in stressed syllables). This paper re-examines these hypotheses using a corpus contrasting different places of articulation. The hypotheses are supported more or less well, depending on place. For example, Macc...

Articulatory Activity in Vowels

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1964

Cinéradiographic data have been obtained that illustrate certain dynamic aspects of vowel articulation. The material analyzed consists of CV, VC, and CVC sequences, some of which were uttered at varying speeds. Special attention has been paid to the rate and timing of movements and to the extent to which individual articulatory components reach their hypothetical target positions within an utterance under various conditions. Instances of articulatory undershoot relative to an ideal target configuration can be observed and appear to be more pronounced as the rate of utterance is increased. The results are interpreted in relation to acoustic data on Swedish vowels previously reported [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 35, 1773 (1963)]. [Research supported in part by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Research Institute of the National Swedish Defence, Swedish Technical Research Council, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Swedish Foundation for Scientific Research and Industrial ...

Place of articulation and consonantal strength

Proceedings of the V University of Cambridge Postgraduate Conference in Language Research (CamLing 2007), 2007

Besides manner of articulation and glottal activity, which have been more studied, place of articulation also plays an important role in determining the relative strength of a consonant. This is so because the joint contribution of magnitude and duration of articulatory gestures (glottal, velo-pharyngeal, and oral) defines a global level of intraoral pressure that can be related to strength (Malécot, 1970). This aerodynamic criterion has been used to explain the role that a back place of articulation can have in reducing oral volume and thus increasing intraoral pressure, namely strength. This can interfere with glottal activity (e.g. in passive devoicing). I will provide examples of diachronic change in several languages which show a tight relationship between back places and strength. These examples are mainly from Semitic languages, such as Arabic, but also from some others, such as Samoan (Austronesian) and Vlach Romani (Indo-European). A relation has been proposed between order of diffusion of linguistic change and place of articulation. However, there is controversy about the relative order between labials and coronals. I will examine different proposals and I will present articulatory, aerodynamic and perceptual data to support the idea that coronal consonants are weaker than labial consonants. The lesser the mass of the articulatory organ, the faster the movements and the shorter the duration of the gesture, which leads to weakness. In addition, certain kinds of coronals might be associated with a relatively descended position of the jaw, which can cause an increase of the oral volume and, consequently, a decrease of the intraoral pressure. Nevertheless, further study is needed on the link between jaw gestures and different types of labials and coronals. To finish, there are some optimal durations for the correct perception of each manner, which vary depending on the place of articulation, and these thresholds seem to favour the weakening of coronals much more than that of labials or dorsals (García Santos, 2002).

Speech in phonetics: A review

IP Annals of Prosthodontics and Restorative Dentistry

The proper knowledge of speech production and phonetic parameters will enables the clinician in fabrication of dentures with good phonetic capabilities. In achieving the optimum phonetic potential by providing correlation among three key objectives i.e. (mechanics, aesthetics and phonetics) of dentistry is the eventual goal of every dentist. This article provides a correlation between occlusion and speech, since the time these two factors are mostly not considered related to each other. But during phonation, the lower teeth functions independently and there remain no contact with upper teeth. This article also highlights the basic utilization of phonation as an indispensible part in placement of upper anterior teeth in complete and partial denture rehabilitation. This is basically because, while restoring natural teeth, we may have to depend on pre-extraction records in order to achieve necessary objectives. And if these records are missing, it is difficult to determining the positi...

Individual differences in vowel production

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1993

It is often assumed that a relatively small set of articulatory features are universally used in language sound systems. This paper presents a study which tests this assumption. The data are x-ray microbeam pellet trajectories during the production of the vowels of American English by five speakers. Speakers were consistent with themselves from one production of a word to the next, but the articulatory patterns manifested by this homogeneous group were speaker specific. Striking individual differences were found in speaking rate, the production of the tense/lax distinction of English, and in global patterns of articulation. In terms of a task-dynamic model of speech production, these differences suggested that the speakers used different gestural target and stiffness values, and employed different patterns of interarticulator coordination to produce the vowels of American English. The data thus suggest that, at some level of speech motor control, speech production tasks are specified in terms of acoustic output rather than spatiotemporal targets or gestures.