Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Stern, Michael C., Shaw, Jason A.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.08351
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866915534135623680
author Stern, Michael C.
Shaw, Jason A.
author_facet Stern, Michael C.
Shaw, Jason A.
contents We investigate the dynamics of labial constriction trajectories during the production of /b/ and /m/ in English and Mandarin. We find that, across languages and contexts, the ratio of instantaneous displacement to instantaneous velocity generally follows an exponential decay curve from movement onset to movement offset. We formalize this empirical discovery in a differential equation and, in combination with an assumption of point attractor dynamics, derive a nonlinear second-order dynamical system describing labial constriction trajectories. The equation has only two parameters, T and r. T corresponds to the target state and r corresponds to movement rapidity. Thus, each of the parameters corresponds to a phonetically relevant dimension of control. Nonlinear regression demonstrates that the model provides excellent fits to individual movement trajectories. Moreover, trajectories simulated from the model qualitatively match empirical trajectories, and capture key kinematic variables like duration, peak velocity, and time to achieve peak velocity. The model constitutes a proposal for the dynamics of individual articulatory movements, and thus offers a novel foundation from which to understand additional influences on articulatory kinematics like prosody, inter-movement coordination, and stochastic noise.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_08351
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Nonlinear second-order dynamics describe labial constriction trajectories across languages and contexts
Stern, Michael C.
Shaw, Jason A.
Computation and Language
Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems
We investigate the dynamics of labial constriction trajectories during the production of /b/ and /m/ in English and Mandarin. We find that, across languages and contexts, the ratio of instantaneous displacement to instantaneous velocity generally follows an exponential decay curve from movement onset to movement offset. We formalize this empirical discovery in a differential equation and, in combination with an assumption of point attractor dynamics, derive a nonlinear second-order dynamical system describing labial constriction trajectories. The equation has only two parameters, T and r. T corresponds to the target state and r corresponds to movement rapidity. Thus, each of the parameters corresponds to a phonetically relevant dimension of control. Nonlinear regression demonstrates that the model provides excellent fits to individual movement trajectories. Moreover, trajectories simulated from the model qualitatively match empirical trajectories, and capture key kinematic variables like duration, peak velocity, and time to achieve peak velocity. The model constitutes a proposal for the dynamics of individual articulatory movements, and thus offers a novel foundation from which to understand additional influences on articulatory kinematics like prosody, inter-movement coordination, and stochastic noise.
title Nonlinear second-order dynamics describe labial constriction trajectories across languages and contexts
topic Computation and Language
Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.08351