Sliding-block-type vocal-tract model with a nasal cavity

A physical model of the human vocal tract developed by Umeda and Teranishi (1966) was used to test relations between phonemic and vocal features of speech. Several similar models (UT models, hereafter) were further developed by our group in the past, settling on one type with a nasal cavity, as the original UT model had. The newly developed model, or UT30-D9 model, has six blocks in the main tract, and they are inserted from the bottom side. Each block can move up and down, so that the vocal-tract configuration changes depending on their positions. The velopharyngeal port can be controlled by a dial, and its opening changes the nasality of output sounds. Such physical models are mainly being applied to the area of education, but they are also used for engineering purposes, such as designing speaking robots. In addition, UT30-D9 is applied to the area of speech pathology, where cleft palate speech was tested, because it has a nasal cavity as well as an ability to simulate many types of vowels and voice qualities. Work supported by JSPS KAKENHI, Grant No. 24K06423.