Discrete constriction locations describe a comprehensive range of vocal tract shapes in the Maeda model

Jessica L Gaines; Kwang S Kim; Benjamin Parrell; Vikram Ramanarayanan; Srikantan S Nagarajan; John F Houde

doi:10.1121/10.0009058

Discrete constriction locations describe a comprehensive range of vocal tract shapes in the Maeda model

JASA Express Lett. 2021 Dec;1(12):124402. doi: 10.1121/10.0009058. Epub 2021 Dec 28.

Authors

Jessica L Gaines¹, Kwang S Kim², Benjamin Parrell³, Vikram Ramanarayanan, Srikantan S Nagarajan⁴, John F Houde²

Affiliations

¹ Graduate Program in Bioengineering, University of California Berkeley-University of California San Francisco, California 94143, USA.
² Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA.
³ Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53715, USA.
⁴ Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA jessica.gaines@berkeley.edu, kwangseob.kim@ucsf.edu, bparrell@wisc.edu, vikram.ramanarayanan@ucsf.edu, srikantan.nagarajan@ucsf.edu, jfhoude@ucsf.edu.

Abstract

The Maeda model was used to generate a large set of vocoid-producing vocal tract configurations. The resulting dataset (a) produced a comprehensive range of formant frequencies and (b) displayed discrete tongue body constriction locations (palatal, velar/uvular, and lower pharyngeal). The discrete parameterization of constriction location across the vowel space suggests this is likely a fundamental characteristic of the human vocal tract, and not limited to any specific set of vowel contrasts. These findings suggest that in addition to established articulatory-acoustic constraints, fundamental biomechanical constraints of the vocal tract may also explain such discreteness.

Abstract

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