Variability in English vowels is comparable in articulation and acoustics

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Phonetics
• Speech Science

Background:

• The relationship between how we produce speech sounds and how we perceive them is a long-standing area of research.
• Understanding the articulatory and acoustic correlates of phonological distinctions is crucial for speech science.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of tongue height and acoustic F1-F0 difference in distinguishing American English front vowels.
• To compare variability in vowel production across articulatory and acoustic domains.

Main Methods:

• Recorded ultrasound (articulatory) and acoustic data simultaneously for seven adult speakers producing front vowels /i, ɪ, e, ε, æ/.
• Analyzed tongue height and F1-F0 difference to assess articulatory-acoustic relationships.

Main Results:

• Observed individual differences in tongue height patterns for distinguishing vowel pairs (/i-ɪ/, /e-ε/, /ε-æ/).
• Found comparable variability in both articulatory and acoustic domains across participants.
• Noted unexpected tongue height reversals for /ɪ/-/e/ in some speakers, reflected acoustically.

Conclusions:

• Phonological vowel height distinctions are achieved through speaker-specific articulatory-acoustic patterns.
• The acoustic signal accurately represents articulatory configurations, providing essential perceptual information.