Kinematic and dynamic analysis of syllable articulation

A pilot study on German syllables with tense and lax vowels

Abstract

The present study is aimed at (1) testing the possibility of extracting dynamic gestural parameters from measured kinematic movement data of lingual articulation, and (2) asking the question whether these dynamic prameters may help to resolve the problem of what is articulatorily underlying the so called 'syllable cut' ('Silbenschnitt') in German. The results of the analysis of articulatory data for a first native speaker of German and observations on the extractability of dynamic parameters are reported. The study will be continued by different re-analyses and data from additional subjects.