Articulatory measures of planned and unplanned coarticulation

The extent and sources of coarticulation remain an active topic of research. Whalen [18] found that vowel-to-vowel coarticulation occurred even when the utterance was initiated before an intervening consonant’s identity was known. Here, we address vowel-to-vowel coarticulation in the articulatory domain, replicating [18]. Spoken English nonsense strings [əәˈbVCɑ] were recorded with electromagnetic articulography. The V was [i] or [u] while the C was [b] or [p]. In one condition, the V was known but the C was not, it was reversed in the other condition. The missing information appeared once phonation began. Our results revealed speakerdependent motor control strategies, with anticipatory effects of the V on the tongue position of the initial schwa being present for speakers who anticipated the V identity, but not otherwise. These patterns are consistent with the position that coarticulation is planned, corroborating Whalen’s [18] conclusions.