Cinefluorographic Analyses of Selected Lingual Consonants

Flesh points on the tongue body of two normal speakers were simulated by attaching small radiopaque markers to the lingual surface. Lateral-view cinefluorography was used to record the displacement patterns of the markers during the production of symmetric VCV utterances, where V is one of the vowels /i,u,a/ and C is one of the consonants /g,j,d,z/. The utterances were produced at two speaking rates, “moderate” and “rapid.” In addition to the analyses based on the movements of the radiopaque markers, measurements descriptive of the articulations of the Ungual apex and mandible were derived from cineradiography tracings. The variation in speaking rate only slightly affected articulatory velocities but did influence the articulatory patterns in some respects. Peculiarities of the tongue-point displacement patterns are discussed and an attempt is made to describe the articulatory targets of the tongue and jaw for the lingual consonants studied.