An Articulatory Phonology Perspective on Rhotic Articulation Problems: A Descriptive Case Study

Abstract This descriptive case study presents data on a young female speaker (ML) with a history of /r/ sound production problems. Perceptual, acoustic, and kinematic data are provided to illustrate the kind of problems that she is facing in producing this sound, using the Articulatory Phonology model as a theoretical background. Different gestural mechanisms that could explain her kinematic characteristics (and associated acoustic and perceptual features) are evaluated in comparison to published data and new findings from an age-matched control speaker (JE) who performed the same speaking tasks as ML. Results show a well-defined problem in gestural specification for tongue control in /r/ sound productions that can be directly related to changes in acoustics and perception. The analysis demonstrates the feasibility of Articulatory Phonology as a theoretical framework not only for normal speech production, but also to explain potential mechanisms behind changes in articulation in disordered speech.

[1]  Andreas Daffertshofer,et al.  A model for phase transitions in human hand movements during multifrequency tapping , 1996 .

[2]  Dani Byrd,et al.  Influences on articulatory timing in consonant sequences , 1996 .

[3]  Shrikanth S. Narayanan,et al.  Toward articulatory-acoustic models for liquid approximants based on MRI and EPG data. Part II. The rhotics. , 1997, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[4]  Louis Goldstein,et al.  Towards an articulatory phonology , 1986, Phonology.

[5]  Pascal H H M van Lieshout,et al.  Speech motor control in fluent and dysfluent speech production of an individual with apraxia of speech and Broca's aphasia , 2007, Clinical linguistics & phonetics.

[6]  Chris J. Clement,et al.  Babbling and the lack of auditory speech perception: a matter of coordination? , 2001 .

[7]  A M Surprenant,et al.  The perception of speech gestures. , 1993, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[8]  K. Newell,et al.  Changing complexity in human behavior and physiology through aging and disease , 2002, Neurobiology of Aging.

[9]  C. Browman,et al.  Papers in Laboratory Phonology: Tiers in articulatory phonology, with some implications for casual speech , 1990 .

[10]  Lawrence D. Shriberg,et al.  Acoustic phenotypes for speech-genetics studies: toward an acoustic marker for residual /s/ distortions , 2002 .

[11]  Dani Byrd,et al.  The Distinctions Between State, Parameter and Graph Dynamics in Sensorimotor Control and Coordination , 2006 .

[12]  Masaaki Honda,et al.  Three-dimensional electromagnetic articulography: a measurement principle. , 2005, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[13]  Abeer Alwan,et al.  Acoustic modelling of American English /r/ , 1997, EUROSPEECH.

[14]  G. Dell,et al.  Representation of serial order in speech: evidence from the repeated phoneme effect in speech errors. , 1984, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[15]  C. Sapienza,et al.  Developmental changes in laryngeal and respiratory function with variations in sound pressure level. , 1997, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[16]  Dani Byrd,et al.  Task-dynamics of gestural timing: Phase windows and multifrequency rhythms , 2000 .

[17]  R. Netsell,et al.  Developmental patterns of laryngeal and respiratory function for speech production. , 1994, Journal of voice : official journal of the Voice Foundation.

[18]  C. Browman,et al.  Articulatory Phonology: An Overview , 1992, Phonetica.

[19]  Louis Goldstein,et al.  Gestural specification using dynamically-defined articulatory structures , 1990 .

[20]  S Shaiman,et al.  Different phase-stable relationships of the upper lip and jaw for production of vowels and diphthongs. , 1991, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[21]  Shrikanth S. Narayanan,et al.  Toward articulatory-acoustic models for liquid approximants based on MRI and EPG data. Part I. The laterals , 1997 .

[22]  Osamu Fujimura,et al.  Allophonic variation in English /l/ and its implications for phonetic implementation , 1993 .

[23]  S Nittrouer,et al.  The emergence of mature gestural patterns is not uniform: evidence from an acoustic study. , 1993, Journal of speech and hearing research.

[24]  B. Gick,et al.  The use of ultrasound in remediation of North American English /r/ in 2 adolescents. , 2007, American journal of speech-language pathology.

[25]  J. Kelso,et al.  Functionally specific articulatory cooperation following jaw perturbations during speech: evidence for coordinative structures. , 1984, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[26]  J R Westbury.  On coordinate systems and the representation of articulatory movements. , 1994, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[27]  Bryan Gick,et al.  Intergestural Timing in English /r/ , 2003 .

[28]  Victor J. Boucher,et al.  Alphabet-related biases in psycholinguistic enquiries: considerations for direct theories of speech production and perception , 1994 .

[29]  Lawrence D. Shriberg, Peter Flipsen Jr, Heather B. Karlsson,et al.  Acoustic phenotypes for speech-genetics studies: an acoustic marker for residual /з/ distortions , 2001 .

[30]  A. Meyer.  Investigation of phonological encoding through speech error analyses: Achievements, limitations, and alternatives , 1992, Cognition.

[31]  M H Cohen,et al.  Electromagnetic midsagittal articulometer systems for transducing speech articulatory movements. , 1992, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[32]  Y. Yamamoto,et al.  Temporal contribution of body movement to very long-term heart rate variability in humans. , 2000, American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology.

[33]  C. Browman.  Gestural structures : distinctiveness, phonological processes, and historical change , 1991 .

[34]  Dani Byrd,et al.  Action to Language via the Mirror Neuron System: The role of vocal tract gestural action units in understanding the evolution of phonology , 2006 .

[35]  L Saltzman Elliot,et al.  A Dynamical Approach to Gestural Patterning in Speech Production , 1989 .

[36]  Shrikanth S. Narayanan,et al.  Acoustics of children's speech: developmental changes of temporal and spectral parameters. , 1999, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[37]  Howard N Zelaznik,et al.  Development of functional synergies for speech motor coordination in childhood and adolescence. , 2004, Developmental psychobiology.

[38]  Louis Goldstein,et al.  Asymmetries in the perception of speech production errors , 2005, J. Phonetics.

[39]  T J Hixon,et al.  Vocalization and breathing during the first year of life. , 1996, Journal of voice : official journal of the Voice Foundation.

[40]  Louis Goldstein,et al.  Dynamics and articulatory phonology , 1996 .

[41]  G. Dell,et al.  Speech errors, phonotactic constraints, and implicit learning: a study of the role of experience in language production. , 2000, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[42]  Christopher A Moore,et al.  The sequential development of jaw and lip control for speech. , 2002, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[43]  William J. Hardcastle,et al.  A Re-Evaluation of the Nature of Speech Errors in Normal and Disordered Speakers , 2005, Phonetica.

[44]  R. Krakow.  Physiological organization of syllables: a review , 1999 .

[45]  J Bruce Tomblin,et al.  Toward diagnostic and phenotype markers for genetically transmitted speech delay. , 2005, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[46]  Andreas Zierdt,et al.  DEVELOPMENT OF A SYSTEM FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL FLESHPOINT MEASUREMENT OF SPEECH MOVEMENTS , 1999 .

[47]  R A Mowrey,et al.  Phonological primitives: electromyographic speech error evidence. , 1990, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[48]  Paul Boersma,et al.  Praat, a system for doing phonetics by computer , 2002 .

[49]  Elliot Saltzman,et al.  The dynamical perspectives on speech production: Data and theory , 1986 .

[50]  Dani Byrd,et al.  Dynamic action units slip in speech production errors , 2007, Cognition.

[51]  Lawrence D. Shriberg,et al.  Acoustic phenotypes for speech-genetics studies: reference data for residual /з/ distortions , 2001 .

[52]  L. Goldstein,et al.  Articulatory Phonology: A phonology for public language use , 2003 .

[53]  K. Harris,et al.  Patterns of interarticulator phasing and their relation to linguistic structure. , 1988, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[54]  C. Moore,et al.  Respiratory kinematics during vocalization and nonspeech respiration in children from 9 to 48 months. , 2004, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[55]  Wouter Hulstijn,et al.  Higher and lower order influences on the stability of the dynamic coupling between articulators. , 1996 .

[56]  Mary J Lindstrom,et al.  Tongues and lips without jaws: a comparison of methods for decoupling speech movements. , 2002, Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR.

[57]  Michael Studdert-Kennedy,et al.  Launching Language: The Gestural Origin of Discrete Infinity , 2002 .

[58]  C Y Espy-Wilson,et al.  Articulatory tradeoffs reduce acoustic variability during American English /r/ production. , 1999, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[59]  Anne Smith,et al.  Developmental and age-related changes in reflexes of the human jaw-closing system. , 1991, Electroencephalography and clinical neurophysiology.

[60]  Louis Goldstein,et al.  Articulatory gestures as phonological units , 1989, Phonology.

[61]  Alfonso Nieto-Castanon,et al.  A modeling investigation of articulatory variability and acoustic stability during American English /r/ production. , 2005, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.