Physiology of Articulation & Resonance – Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering instrumentation, musculature, phonetics, motor theories, development, and clinical pathologies related to articulation and resonance.

Electromyography (EMG)

Instrumentation that records the electrical activity of muscles via electrodes to study strength and movement.

Surface Electromyography

A non-invasive EMG technique that places electrodes on the skin to capture gross muscle potentials.

Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI)

Clinical device that objectively measures tongue and lip strength and endurance.

Electropalatography (EPG)

Technique using an artificial palate with electrodes to record tongue-to-palate contact during speech.

Optopalatography

Optical sensor version of EPG that tracks tongue–palate contact patterns.

Nasometer

Instrument that measures the acoustic output of the nasal cavity to assess nasality and nasal emission.

Spectrogram

Visual display that plots speech sounds across frequency, intensity, and time.

Orbicularis Oris

Circular lip muscle that forms the primary site for lip closure and force generation.

Mentalis Muscle

Chin muscle that adds velocity to lower-lip movement by attaching to the mobile mandible.

Proprioception

Sense of body position and movement, critical for fine articulatory adjustments.

Mechanoreceptors

Tactile receptors in oral mucosa that provide feedback for articulation.

Stretch Reflex

Automatic muscle contraction in response to stretching, helping maintain lip and jaw posture.

Mandibular Elevators

Temporalis, masseter, and medial pterygoid muscles that raise the jaw for precise speech.

Mandibular Depressors

Digastric, mylohyoid, and geniohyoid muscles that lower the jaw; lack muscle spindles.

Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ)

Jaw joint containing receptors that guide accurate mandibular positioning.

Muscle Spindle

Sensory organ within a muscle that detects stretch and contributes to fine motor control.

Superior Longitudinal Muscle

Intrinsic tongue muscle that elevates the tongue tip (e.g., /t, d, n, l, r/).

Inferior Longitudinal Muscle

Intrinsic tongue muscle that depresses the tongue tip, sometimes for /s/ production.

Genioglossus

Large tongue muscle that protrudes, retracts, and depresses the tongue body.

Transverse Tongue Fibers

Intrinsic muscles that narrow and groove the tongue.

Styloglossus

Extrinsic tongue muscle that retracts and elevates the posterior tongue toward the velum.

Hyoglossus

Muscle that depresses and retracts the tongue sides; assists in tongue body depression.

Levator Veli Palatini

Principal muscle that elevates the velum for non-nasal sounds.

Superior Pharyngeal Constrictor

Pharyngeal muscle that aids velopharyngeal closure, especially for stops and fricatives.

Velopharyngeal Closure

Contact of the velum with pharyngeal walls to seal off the nasal cavity during oral speech sounds.

Coarticulation

Simultaneous or overlapping articulatory movements of adjacent phonemes in fluent speech.

Assimilation

Modification of one sound by an adjacent sound, altering articulatory movement for efficiency.

Associated Chain Theory

Model stating that two articulators move together to achieve different phonemes within a word.

Central Control Theory

View that a master brain map predetermines each speech movement to meet linguistic needs.

Dynamic Action Theory

Perspective that articulators form a flexible effector system, coordinating movements to reach goals.

Effector System

Group of articulators acting together as a dynamic unit to accomplish a speech gesture.

DIVA Model

Neural network model—Directions Into Velocities of Articulation—explaining speech motor learning via feedforward and feedback.

Feedforward System

Motor control process that anticipates upcoming speech targets, reducing reliance on real-time feedback.

Feedback System

Sensory monitoring of speech output that guides corrections and builds accurate feedforward commands.

Bilabial

Place of articulation produced by both lips (e.g., /p, b, m/).

Labiodental

Articulation made with upper teeth and lower lip (e.g., /f, v/).

Interdental

Sounds formed with tongue tip between the teeth (e.g., /θ, ð/ in ‘thigh’, ‘they’).

Alveolar

Articulation using tongue tip/blade and alveolar ridge (e.g., /t, d, s, z, n/).

Palatal

Sounds produced with tongue blade near the hard palate (e.g., /ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/).

Velar

Articulation involving tongue back and soft palate (e.g., /k, g, ŋ/).

Glottal

Sounds created by the vocal folds themselves (e.g., /h, ʔ/).

Stop (Plosive)

Manner of articulation with complete closure and sudden air release (e.g., /p, t, k/).

Fricative

Manner where articulators approximate to create turbulent airflow (e.g., /s, f, ʃ/).

Nasal (Consonant)

Sound produced with lowered velum allowing air to resonate through the nose (e.g., /m, n, ŋ/).

Affricate

Consonant combining a stop followed by a fricative release (e.g., /tʃ, dʒ/).

Approximant (Glide)

Consonant with minimal constriction, acting like a glide (e.g., /w, j/).

Lateral Liquid

Only English consonant /l/ where air flows around the tongue sides.

Voiced Sound

Speech sound produced with vibration of the vocal folds.

Voiceless Sound

Speech sound produced without vocal-fold vibration.

Cephalocaudal Development

Motor growth pattern progressing from head control downward toward the tail.

Proximodistal Development

Motor pattern developing from the body’s center outward toward the extremities.

Rooting Reflex

Infant reflex: cheek stroke triggers head turn and mouth opening for feeding.

Palatal Lift

Prosthetic device that elevates the soft palate to improve velopharyngeal competence.

Palatal Obturator

Prosthesis that closes palatal defects after maxillary surgery, restoring speech and chewing.

Cleft Lip and Palate

Congenital failure of lip or palatal closure during weeks 4–9 gestation, affecting articulation and resonance.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Progressive neurodegenerative disease that weakens voluntary muscles, leading to slurred, dysarthric speech.

Apraxia of Speech

Motor-planning disorder causing inconsistent speech errors without muscular weakness.