koartikulatsioon

Koartikulatsioon is a linguistic term referring to the phenomenon where sounds within a word are influenced by their surrounding sounds. This influence can be anticipatory, where a sound is affected by a sound that comes later, or perseveratory, where a sound is affected by a sound that came earlier. For example, in English, the /t/ sound in "tenth" is often pronounced with the tongue tip touching the teeth, anticipating the /θ/ sound that follows. This is different from assimilation, which is a more complete change of one sound into another. Koartikulatsioon describes the blending and overlapping of articulatory gestures for adjacent speech sounds, rather than a complete substitution. It is a natural aspect of fluent speech production, allowing for smoother transitions between sounds and a more efficient flow of articulation. Researchers study koartikulatsioon using techniques like electromyography and acoustic analysis to understand the precise timing and coordination of muscle movements involved in speech. Understanding koartikulatsioon is crucial for fields such as phonetics, speech pathology, and the development of speech synthesis technologies. It highlights the interconnectedness of sounds within the speech stream and the complex motor control required for natural language production.