ANTICIPATORY LARYNGEAL MOVEMENTS. AN X-RAY INVESTIGATION

Béatrice Vaxelaire1, Rudolph Sock1, Fabrice Hirsch1 & Johanna-Pascale Roy2
1Phonetics Institute of Strasbourg - Speech and Cognition Group; 2Département de linguistique et de didactique des langues

ID 1099
[full paper]

This investigation deals with the production of VCV sequences produced by French speakers, with particular focus on larynx position and trajectory. X-ray data are extracted from a database for four speakers, uttering sentences or VCV sequences at two speaking rates: normal-conversational and fast. Results obtained from a frame-by-frame analysis of midsagittal profiles reveal: (1) a high positive correlation between the larynx and the hyoid bone in their vertical displacements; 2) a confirmation of previous findings that the position of the larynx is lower for high vowels than for low vowels; (3) anticipatory laryngeal gestures in both /aCu/ and /uCa/ sequences; (4) that these anticipatory gestures are resistant to the behaviour of supraglottal structures, and also to speech rate conditions.