Patterns of Palatoglossus Activity and Their Implications for Speech Organization

EMG recordings were obtained from the palatoglossus muscles of one Swedish speaker and three speakers of American English. The data indicate differences in the function of this muscle in nasal articulation for speakers of the two languages: palatoglossus activity in the Swedish speaker appears to be associated with nasal articulatory gestures while in the English speakers there is no apparent corresponding palatoglossus activity. Evidence is found, in speakers of both languages, of palatoglossus activity associated with tongue raising and retracting gestures. The activity patterns observed in different phonetic environments may provide a clue to the nature of the motor organization of speech. There are some speech sounds which show clear peaks of palatoglossus activity when they occur in environments otherwise free of palatoglossus activity. However, when several of the vowel and consonant sounds which exhibit palatoglossus activity occur serially, the activity may be fused or may remain separate, depending upon the order of the segments in the string of speech sounds. [Supported by NIDR Grant DE 01774.]