Investigating the limits of vowel articulation

The limits of vowel articulation have been investigated in relation to a on e-parameter acoustic reference frame, consisting of a scaling discretizatio n of formant space (SDF). The first three resonance frequencies of a lossle ss articulatory tube model were calculated and mapped to the reference fram e. The limits of the articulatorily accessible Vowel space were thus estima ted, and compared to a previously published analysis of human production of peripheral vowels. The close agreement between the boundaries generated by the model and the measured values lend support to the SDF as a basis for o rganizing vowels. A simple relation was also obtained between two of the co efficients of the articulatory model and the two ratio dimensions of the SD F.