Velic coordination in French nasals: a real-time magnetic resonance imaging study

Production of nasal vowels in French, and nasal consonants in French and English, was examined using real-time magnetic resonance imaging (rtMRI). The coordination of velic and lingual gestures was found to be tightly controlled across different prosodic contexts in French nasals. Velum lowering in English nasal consonants did not show the same control, although the timing of the corresponding lingual gestures varied with prosodic context in the same way as for French nasals, suggesting a coordinative relationship in which oral and velic articulators are consistently phased in French nasal production. These findings illustrate the utility of real-time MRI as a method for studying velic activity and articulatory coordination in vocalic and nasal phonology.