PURPOSE: This study sought to investigate the effect of palate morphology and anthropometric measures of the head on positional variability of the tongue during consonants. METHOD: An electromagnetic tracking system was used to record tongue movements of 21 adults. Each talker produced a series of symmetrical VCV syllables containing one of the consonants /t, d, s, z, , t, k, g, j/ and corner vowels /i, a, u/. Distributions of x, y, and z coordinates at maximum tongue elevation were used to represent tongue position variability across contexts. Anthropometric palate and head measures were also obtained. RESULTS: Positional variability of the tongue differed between the front (e.g., alveolar and post-alveolar) and back (velar) consonant groups. A correlational analysis showed that tongue position variability of the front consonants was explained, to a degree, by palate curvature and palate length. The variability of the back consonants was not explained by any structural measures. CONCLUSION: Palate morphology needs to be taken into account when making observations regarding the extent of tongue position variability during consonants in research and in achieving clinical goals.
PURPOSE: This study sought to investigate the effect of palate morphology and anthropometric measures of the head on positional variability of the tongue during consonants. METHOD: An electromagnetic tracking system was used to record tongue movements of 21 adults. Each talker produced a series of symmetrical VCV syllables containing one of the consonants /t, d, s, z, , t, k, g, j/ and corner vowels /i, a, u/. Distributions of x, y, and z coordinates at maximum tongue elevation were used to represent tongue position variability across contexts. Anthropometric palate and head measures were also obtained. RESULTS: Positional variability of the tongue differed between the front (e.g., alveolar and post-alveolar) and back (velar) consonant groups. A correlational analysis showed that tongue position variability of the front consonants was explained, to a degree, by palate curvature and palate length. The variability of the back consonants was not explained by any structural measures. CONCLUSION: Palate morphology needs to be taken into account when making observations regarding the extent of tongue position variability during consonants in research and in achieving clinical goals.