Articulatory Strategies in Obstruent Production in Mandarin Esophageal Speech

Based on the comparison between 4 esophageal speakers and 4 normal laryngeal speakers, this study investigated the voice onset time (VOT) characteristics and the linguopalatal articulation in the production of Mandarin obstruent consonants. Results show that esophageal speakers distinguish unaspirated vs. aspirated plosives or affricates in a similar way as laryngeal speakers do. However, the aspirated plosives and affricates have a shorter VOT whereas the unaspirated plosives and affricates have a longer VOT in esophageal speech than in laryngeal speech. Interestingly, esophageal speech exhibits a significantly more extensive linguopalatal contact than normal speech does. Results suggest that articulatory strategies have been adjusted to facilitate the linguopalatal articulation as well as the sub-tosupra-laryngeal coordination by using a narrower air way in the production of esophageal speech.