Consonant and vowel gestures are

• actions (dance steps)
• performed by vocal organs (body organs).

How are these actions combined into larger structures (words)?

Synchronization

The simplest way of coordinating movements of multiple body parts is in-phase (0^o).

No learning is required.

Anti-phase (180^o) is also simple and doesn't require learning but is less stable than in-phase.

Spontaneous shifts from anti-phase to in-phase occur as rate of oscillation increases.

• C and V gestures combine in-phase --> CV syllables
  • C and V gestures begin synchronously.
• C and V gestures can also combine anti-phase --> VC syllables

• e.g, "bed":
  • lip closure and palatal vowel gesture are in-phase
  • palatal vowel gesture and tongue tip closre are anti-phase

Consequence of CV synchronization: Parallel Transmission

Gestures for the consonant and vowel in a CV syllable are normally produced in parallel (partially overlapping in time) rather than strictly sequentially.

• This seems to be a fundamental design characteristic of human language.
• It has been claimed that this property allows information in speech to be conveyed as efficiently as it is.
• There are important implications of this principle for speech perception.

Evidence for CV synchronization

We can observe the times during which consonant and vowel gestures are produced by measuring movements of different constrictors.

This is done by attaching markers to a subject's articulators (e.g., lips, tongue tip, tongue body) and tracking the motion of the articulators that inform us about the timing of a given constriction's formation and release.

Techniques for articulatory tracking:

• X-ray microbeam
• ElectroMagnetic Midsagittal Articulograph (EMMA) info on this