SOME ORGANIZATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SPEECH MOVEMENT CONTROL

The neuromotor organization for a class of speech sounds (bilabials) w as examined to evaluate the control principles underlying speech as a sensorimotor process. oral opening and closing actions for the consona nts /p/, /b/, and /m/ (C1) in /s V1 C1 V2 C2/ context, where V1 was ei ther /ae/ or /i/, V2 was /ae/, and C2 was /p/, were analyzed from 4 su bjects. The timing of oral opening and closing action was found to be a significant variable differentiating bilabial consonants. Additional ly, opening and closing actions were found to covary along a number of dimensions implicating the movement cycle as the minimal unit of spee ch motor programming. The sequential adjustments of the lips and jaw v aried systematically with phonetic context reflecting the different fu nctional roles of these articulators in the production of consonants a nd vowels. The implication of these findings for speech production is discussed.