An objective investigation of articulation and phonation in tongue twister production by Cantonese adults

Abstract

Characteristics associated with errors or variations in speech production have been studied in order to construct and refine speech production models and theories. However, detailed and objective investigations of the factors leading to such errors or variations are lacking. In addition, little is known about individual differences in articulatory stability. The present study investigated contextual effects including rate and phonemic similarity on articulation and phonation, and their variability. The study also attempted to examine the relationship between individuals’ articulatory performances in different tasks. Acoustic recordings of tongue twisters, control sentences and diadochokinetic (DDK) productions produced by 30 native Cantonese speakers were analyzed. Results showed that rate increase was associated with deterioration in articulation, and articulatory and phonatory stability. Phonemic similarity was found to have a facilitative effect on articulation and interarticulator timing but a negative effect on the stability of interarticulator timing in speech tasks. While individuals’ articulatory performance in speech tasks were found to be related, no significant correlation between that and their ability to produce sequential motion rates (SMR) was found.