An investigation of sagittal velar movement and its correlation with lip, tongue, and jaw movement.

Abstract

This paper examines the correlation between velar movement and the movement of other articulators in the midsagittal plane. A physiological model is proposed, which, while being based on common knowledge, is more extensive than has been used explicitly to explain observed movements of the velum. The model is used to guide the measurements taken from raw articulatory data provided by Electromagnetic Articulograph (EMA). The midsagittal velar movement is then examined for four different sentences by separate speakers and attempts are made to explain the patterns by reference to the model. The data was taken from a database of between 220 and 460 phonetically balanced sentences per speaker. This type of dataset allow general patterns of behavior to be uncovered. One such observation made and discussed in this paper is velum lowering before oral velar stops.