French nasal vowels : motor equivalence in vowel dispersion

EMA, aerodynamic, and acoustic signals were combined in order to observe lingual and labial articulation of oral and nasal vowels produced by three Northern Metropolitan French (NMF) female speakers and two Quebec French (QF) female speakers. Inter-speaker variation observed in oral articulation suggests the importance of motor equivalence in the acoustic dispersion of both vowel systems. Specifically, the results suggest that a similar acoustic dispersion is maintained across speakers within a given dialect, although these speakers may use different lingual and labial configurations, as well as the passive effects of naso-pharyngeal coupling, in order to achieve the particular acoustic dispersion. In the light of recent research, the results from this study also suggest that motor equivalence may explain co-variation of naso-pharyngeal coupling and tongue configuration previously observed in NMF