Like any skilled activity, speech production requires the intricate coordination of several different sub-systems. These subsystems are the respiratory system, the larynx, and the different parts of the supralaryngeal vocal tract. Our experiments will help to uncover the nature of this coordination, both within and across these subsystems, through careful and detailed observations of articulator movements using state-of-the-art technologies. We will investigate the coordination and sequencing of articulatory movements by: a) varying the phonetic context, stress, and speaking rate; and b) applying unpredictable mechanical perturbations to articulators. These methods will enable us to examine how relatively constant communicative ends are achieved by different means in speech. That is, even in the face of perturbations or linguistic/performance variations, the acoustic signal must stay within certain limits if it is to succeed in transmitting messages. The proposed experiments will study, in populations of normal adult and child speakers, the contribution of oral and laryngeal articulations to the regulation of air pressure in the production of voiceless consonants. The experiments will also examine the kinematic coordination of the oral and laryngeal articulations,a nd how the kinematics of the oral articulators are affected by phonetic context in the making of stop closures. Together, the results of these experiments will contribute to our ability to infer the underlying articulatory movements from records of air pressure and air flow. Because the recording of pressure and flow is non-invasive it can be used on children, on whom it is often impractical to use more invasive procedures. In addition, these procedures should be useful in the clinical management and assessment of speech and voice disorders.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DC000865-06
Application #
2683910
Study Section
Sensory Disorders and Language Study Section (CMS)
Project Start
1990-09-30
Project End
2001-03-31
Budget Start
1998-04-01
Budget End
2001-03-31
Support Year
6
Fiscal Year
1998
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Haskins Laboratories, Inc.
Department
Type
DUNS #
060010147
City
New Haven
State
CT
Country
United States
Zip Code
06511
Lofqvist, Anders (2011) Vowel-related tongue movements in speech: straight or curved paths? (L). J Acoust Soc Am 129:1149-52
Lucero, Jorge C; Koenig, Laura L; Lourenco, Kelem G et al. (2011) A lumped mucosal wave model of the vocal folds revisited: recent extensions and oscillation hysteresis. J Acoust Soc Am 129:1568-79
Lofqvist, Anders (2009) Vowel-to-vowel coarticulation in Japanese: the effect of consonant duration. J Acoust Soc Am 125:636-9
Koenig, Laura L; Lucero, Jorge C; Mencl, W Einar (2008) Laryngeal and aerodynamic adjustments for voicing versus devoicing of /h/: a within-speaker study. J Voice 22:709-20
Lofqvist, Anders (2007) Tongue movement kinematics in long and short Japanese consonants. J Acoust Soc Am 122:512-18
Lucero, Jorge C; Koenig, Laura L (2007) On the relation between the phonation threshold lung pressure and the oscillation frequency of the vocal folds. J Acoust Soc Am 121:3280-3
Lofqvist, Anders (2006) Interarticulator programming: effects of closure duration on lip and tongue coordination in Japanese. J Acoust Soc Am 120:2872-83
Koenig, Laura L; Mencl, W Einar; Lucero, Jorge C (2005) Multidimensional analyses of voicing offsets and onsets in female speakers. J Acoust Soc Am 118:2535-50
Lucero, Jorge C; Koenig, Laura L (2005) Phonation thresholds as a function of laryngeal size in a two-mass model of the vocal folds. J Acoust Soc Am 118:2798-801
Lofqvist, Anders (2005) Lip kinematics in long and short stop and fricative consonants. J Acoust Soc Am 117:858-78

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