Articulography

Articulography is the study and recording of the movements of the speech articulators—such as the tongue, lips, jaw, and velum—during speech production. It aims to map the timing, extent, and coordination of articulatory gestures that build phonetic segments and influence phonological patterns. By tracking how articulation unfolds in real time, articulography complements acoustic analyses and helps explain how sounds are produced and perceived across languages.

Techniques range from invasive to noninvasive, with differing resolution. Electromagnetic articulography (EMA) attaches small sensors to the lips, tongue, and other structures and tracks 3D positions and orientations within a magnetic field. X-ray microbeam methods use radiopaque markers and X-ray beams for precise spatial tracking but involve radiation. Ultrasound tongue imaging is noninvasive and effective for anterior tongue movement but offers limited view of deeper structures. Real-time MRI (rtMRI) noninvasively images the vocal tract with high spatial detail, though with lower temporal resolution and higher cost. Palatography records contact patterns between the tongue and palate, using plates or sensors, with dynamic palatography revealing changing contact during speech.

Applications include phonetic and phonological research, cross-language comparisons, and clinical studies in speech-language pathology. Articulatory data inform models of coarticulation and gestural timing, improve articulatory-to-acoustic mappings for speech synthesis and recognition, and aid therapy planning. Limitations include invasiveness and calibration in EMA, radiation in X-ray methods, cost and laboratory constraints for rtMRI, and limited portability for many techniques, which can affect ecological validity.