Speaking tongues are always braced Free

Bracing the tongue against rigid vocal tract surfaces (i.e., teeth or palate) has been suggested to be important in facilitating certain kinds of tongue movements [Stone, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 81, 2207–2218 (1990)]. However, previous studies have generally sought bracing in only a narrow range of phonetic contexts, resulting in a widespread view of bracing as an occasional state, peculiar to specific sounds or sound combinations. The present study uses electropalatography (EPG) as well as ultrasound imaging and electromagnetic articulometry (EMA) to describe tongue bracing in continuous speech passages, finding that the tongue is almost constantly braced against lateral surfaces during running speech. Analysis of archival data from the male and female speakers of American English in the KayPENTAX Palatometer Database (Model 4333) shows that they brace the tongue continuously, except during a small percentage of low vowels, and during a larger percentage of instances of /l/. Additional measures using all three devices, as well as biomechanical simulations using ArtiSynth (www.artisynth.org), provide further insight, indicating that the tongue also braces against the central palate and/or lower jaw, and that bracing points slide anteroposteriorly across speech sounds. These results suggest that bracing is a constant and necessary aspect of tongue motor control.