Lateral Pharyngeal Wall Movement During Speech Production

Abstract

Movement of one lateral pharyngeal wall during the production of VCVCV trisyllables was monitored via pulsed ultrasound using a time-motion method of display. Three normal speakers produced the six English stop consonants* combined with five vowels. The extent of lateral pharyngeal wall movement was found to be greatest on low vowels and least on high vowels. Pharyngeal wall movement during consonant production appeared to be dependent on the adjacent vowels.