Biomechanical modeling of English /r/ variants (2012)

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Type of Content
Journal ArticlePublisher
Acoustical Society of America (ASA)ISSN
0001-49661520-8524
Language
EnglishCollections
Abstract
This study reports an investigation of the well-known context-dependent variation in English /r/ using a biomechanical tongue-jaw-hyoid model. The simulation results show that preferred /r/ variants require less volume displacement, relative strain, and relative muscle stress than variants that are not preferred. This study also uncovers a previously unknown mechanism in tongue biomechanics for /r/ production: Torque in the sagittal plane about the mental spine. This torque enables raising of the tongue anterior for retroflexed [ɻ] by activation of hyoglossus and relaxation of anterior genioglossus. The results provide a deeper understanding of the articulatory factors that govern contextual phonetic variation.
Citation
Stavness I, Gick B, Derrick D, Fels S (2012). Biomechanical modeling of English /r/ variants. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America - Express Letters. 131(5). EL355-EL360.This citation is automatically generated and may be unreliable. Use as a guide only.
Keywords
Muscle, Skeletal; Jaw; Tongue; Humans; Movement; Biomechanics; Models, Biological; Phonetics; Stress, PhysiologicalANZSRC Fields of Research
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