Articulation and coarticulation

One of the main parameters to analyze when assessing voice quality is certainly articulation, which refers to the supraglottic activity that enables the execution of different movements to produce specific sounds. Imprecise or unclear articulation affects the intelligibility of speech.

Closely related to the concept of articulation is the concept of coarticulation, which refers to a sound that is not produced identically depending on its position within a word, and whose modification depends on the adjacent sounds surrounding it.

In spoken language, articulatory movements are executed very quickly, resulting in transitional movements. Despite these distortions, phonemes maintain their distinctive identity, and speech remains intelligible. This is not a defect, but an important factor to take into account.

Some of the effects include:

• Vowels influence consonants and vice versa

• The influence is bidirectional in time

• Coarticulation extends from one vowel to another through the consonants

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Valentina Carlile - Osteopath specializing in Osteopathy for Voice and Speech Disorders since 2002. For information and bookings, visit the Contact page.

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