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Temporal patterns of coarticulation: lip rounding
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
|February 1, 1982
Summary
This study challenges the "articulatory sluggishness" theory of carryover coarticulation. Electromyography (EMG) data show vowel lip rounding gestures co-occur predictably with lingual consonants, not due to sluggishness.
Area of Science:
- Phonetics
- Speech Production
- Linguistics
Background:
- Coarticulation theories explain speech sound assimilation.
- Anticipatory coarticulation involves feature migration to preceding sounds.
- Carryover coarticulation is often attributed to articulatory sluggishness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mechanisms of carryover coarticulation.
- To test the "articulatory sluggishness" hypothesis for vowel lip rounding.
- To provide electromyographic (EMG) evidence on speech gesture timing.
Main Methods:
- Electromyography (EMG) was used to measure muscle activity during speech.
- The timing of EMG activity for vowel lip rounding was analyzed.
- Acoustic durations of adjacent lingual consonants were measured.
Main Results:
- The onset of EMG activity for vowel lip rounding was independent of lingual consonant acoustic duration.
- This finding contradicts the "articulatory sluggishness" explanation.
- Vowel rounding gestures appear to co-occur with lingual consonant articulations predictably.
Conclusions:
- The traditional "articulatory sluggishness" model is inadequate for explaining carryover coarticulation.
- Vowel rounding gestures are timed to co-occur with lingual consonants.
- Speech production involves predictable temporal coordination of articulatory gestures.