Dynamic acoustic-articulatory relations

This dissertation investigates the relationship between tongue movement and dynamic formant patterns. Based on an analysis of tongue edge deformation from Lateral X-Ray Cineflurographic films, I argue that there are only two basic dynamic patterns: the pivot and the arch. These dynamic structures emerge when the analysis focuses on the contribution of tongue movement to area function dynamics, rather than on the movement of individual points of the tongue. Tongue movement is constrained to influence area function change only at locations in the vocal tract where a linguistic task is specified. The patterns are a dynamic expression of this constraint. Simulation of acoustic tube models will then show how the acoustic consequences of area function change at the linguistically specified locations are fused into complex dynamic formant patterns.