14th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS-14) San Francisco, CA, USA August 1-7, 1999

Articulatory Kinematics: Preliminary Data on the Effects of Speaking Condition, Articulator and Movement Type

Joseph Perkell (1,2), Majid Zandipour (1,2), Melanie Matthies (1,2), Harlan Lane (1,3)

(1) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
(2) Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
(3) Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

This study explores the idea that clear speech is produced with greater “articulatory effort” than normal speech. Kinematic and acoustic data were gathered from seven subjects as they pronounced multiple repetitions of utterances in normal and clear speaking conditions. There were differences in peak movement speed, distance and duration between the speaking conditions and movement type (opening vs. closing), and among articulators (lower lip, tongue body, tongue blade) and speakers. Three speakers produced “clear” utterances with movements that had larger distances, higher peak speeds and greater durations than those for “normal” utterances. The higher peak speeds indicate increased effort, according to an analysis based on a simple dynamical model. The remaining speakers used other combinations of parameters to produce the clear condition. Opening movements had longer durations than closing movements, and there were individual differences in the effect of articulator on peak speed, duration and distance.

Full Paper

Bibliographic reference.  Perkell, Joseph / Zandipour, Majid / Matthies, Melanie / Lane, Harlan (1999): "Articulatory kinematics: preliminary data on the effects of speaking condition, articulator and movement type", In ICPhS-14, 1773-1776.