Changes in articulator movement variability during phonemic development: A longitudinal study

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Purpose: The present study explored articulator movement variability during voicing contrast acquisition. The purpose was to examine whether oral articulator movement trajectories associated with the production of voiced/voiceless bilabial phonemes in children became less variable over time. Method: Jaw, lower lip, and upper lip movements were recorded longitudinally in six, 19 month-old children as they began producing the voiceless phoneme /p/. Displacement signals were time and amplitude normalized. The spatiotemporal index (A. Smith, L. Goffman, H. Zelaznik, S. Ying, & C. McGillem, 1995) was computed to examine the variability in movement trajectories across repeated productions of target utterances. Results: Spatiotemporal variability of lip and jaw movements significantly decreased as children began producing the voiceless phoneme /p/. A significant negative correlation between the STI and the length of voice onset time (VOT) was also found in the voiceless productions in 4 of the 6 participants. Conclusions: Oral articulator movement variability is reduced in children across the stabilization of voicing contrast acquisition. Further, the relationship between VOT contrast production and movement variability suggests that a coordinate system between the oral and laryngeal articulators may be refined as children acquire the voicing contrast.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)164-177
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
Volume52
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1 2009

Keywords

  • Articulator movement
  • Development
  • Variability
  • Voice onset time

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Linguistics and Language
  • Speech and Hearing

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