Velum Control for Oral Sounds

Velum position during speech shows systematic variability within and across speakers, but has a binary phonological contrast (nasal and oral). Velum lowering is often thought to constitute an independent phonological unit, partly because of its robust prosodically-conditioned timing during nasal stops. Velum raising, on the other hand, is usually considered to be a non-phonological consequence of other vocal tract movements. Moreover, velum raising has almost always been observed in the context of nasals, and has rarely been studied in purely oral contexts. This experiment directly contrasts velum movement in oral and nasal contexts. The results show that temporal coordination of velum raising during oral stops resembles the temporal coordination of velum lowering during nasals, suggesting that velum position and movement are controlled for both raising and lowering. The results imply that some revisions to the Articulatory Phonology model may be appropriate, specifically with regards to the treatment of velum raising as an independent phonological unit.