Tag Archives: speech production

Perturbation theory

150th Anniversary of the Bell Vowel Model 5 September 2017 saw the 150th anniversary of Alexander Melville Bell’s vowel model. However innovative it may have seemed, his notion of continuous backness and the class of central vowels were purely hypothetical … Continue reading

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Is cardinal 4 front or central?

150th Anniversary of the Bell Vowel Model 4 September 2017 saw the 150th anniversary of Alexander Melville Bell’s vowel model.  Daniel Jones’ cardinal vowel system was a modification of Bell’s model, especially reducing Bell’s three low vowels to two. Was … Continue reading

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X-ray movie: uvular [ʀ]

A short sequence from an X-ray motion film: Uvular [yʀa] This is a short sequence where a speaker of Southern Swedish is saying [ˈyʀa], broken out from a longer sequence, /ˈfy:ra/, [ˈfəyʀa], fyra, ‘four’. This example is illustrated with every … Continue reading

Posted in Articulation, Cinefluorography, Coarticulation, Consonants, Dialects, Methods, Pronunciation, rhoticity, Swedish, uvular, Vowels | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on X-ray movie: uvular [ʀ]

The Bell vowel model: its acoustic weaknesses

1. The single resonance and two resonance theories. Bell coupled his new vowel model to the then popular single resonance theory, claiming the vowel tone (resonance) depended on the dimensions of the buccal cavity. In Visible Speech (1867:71), he postulated … Continue reading

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