Kieferhebung
Kieferhebung, or jaw raising, is a term in articulatory phonetics describing the vertical movement of the mandible toward the maxilla during speech, resulting in a reduction of the vertical opening of the mouth. The degree of Kieferhebung varies with the phonetic demands of the produced sounds and is commonly studied in relation to vowel height and articulation. In general, higher vowels are associated with a more elevated jaw, while lower vowels involve a more open jaw; however, tongue height and lip rounding also influence the resulting articulation.
In practice, researchers measure or model Kieferhebung using imaging methods such as MRI and ultrasound, or
Beyond linguistics, the term may appear in dental or clinical discussions as a description of mandibular movement
See also: articulation, vowel height, formants, jaw movement.