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Jaw-Opening Patterns and Their Correspondence with Syllable Stress Patterns

Erickson, Donna LU ; Lundmark, Malin Svensson LU orcid and Huang, Ting (2026) p.21-43
Abstract

A string of speech is a string of syllables, a series of varying amounts of jaw openings/closings. Neutralizing the vowel-intrinsic jaw opening indicates a pattern of jaw opening matching the utterance syllable prominence patterns. The hypothesis is that the jaw-opening patterns ensue from the metrical hierarchy of the language, such that for languages such as English, we see exponentially increasing jaw displacement on the metrically strong syllable within each foot, phrase, and utterance; for languages such as French, Chinese, and Japanese, we see increased jaw displacement at the end of each phrase, with the largest amount of jaw displacement at the end of the utterance. These language-specific jaw-displacement patterns tend to be... (More)

A string of speech is a string of syllables, a series of varying amounts of jaw openings/closings. Neutralizing the vowel-intrinsic jaw opening indicates a pattern of jaw opening matching the utterance syllable prominence patterns. The hypothesis is that the jaw-opening patterns ensue from the metrical hierarchy of the language, such that for languages such as English, we see exponentially increasing jaw displacement on the metrically strong syllable within each foot, phrase, and utterance; for languages such as French, Chinese, and Japanese, we see increased jaw displacement at the end of each phrase, with the largest amount of jaw displacement at the end of the utterance. These language-specific jaw-displacement patterns tend to be carried over when learning a second language. Also explored in this chapter are segmental articulation interactions with jaw-displacement patterns, as well as the relationship between metrically motivated jaw displacement patterns and listeners’ perceptions of utterance prominence patterns.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
articulatory and acoustic prominence cues, jaw displacement, language prominence patterns, metrical hierarchy, segmental articulation, syllable prominence patterns
host publication
Rhythms of Speech and Language : Physiology, Cognition, Culture - Physiology, Cognition, Culture
pages
23 pages
publisher
Cambridge University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:105041429607
ISBN
9781009295857
9781009295888
DOI
10.1017/9781009295888.004
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3b914c5b-4dc5-431c-85e4-8b2e5dd90234
date added to LUP
2026-09-21 11:58:01
date last changed
2026-10-06 06:59:43
@inbook{3b914c5b-4dc5-431c-85e4-8b2e5dd90234,
  abstract     = {{<p>A string of speech is a string of syllables, a series of varying amounts of jaw openings/closings. Neutralizing the vowel-intrinsic jaw opening indicates a pattern of jaw opening matching the utterance syllable prominence patterns. The hypothesis is that the jaw-opening patterns ensue from the metrical hierarchy of the language, such that for languages such as English, we see exponentially increasing jaw displacement on the metrically strong syllable within each foot, phrase, and utterance; for languages such as French, Chinese, and Japanese, we see increased jaw displacement at the end of each phrase, with the largest amount of jaw displacement at the end of the utterance. These language-specific jaw-displacement patterns tend to be carried over when learning a second language. Also explored in this chapter are segmental articulation interactions with jaw-displacement patterns, as well as the relationship between metrically motivated jaw displacement patterns and listeners’ perceptions of utterance prominence patterns.</p>}},
  author       = {{Erickson, Donna and Lundmark, Malin Svensson and Huang, Ting}},
  booktitle    = {{Rhythms of Speech and Language : Physiology, Cognition, Culture}},
  isbn         = {{9781009295857}},
  keywords     = {{articulatory and acoustic prominence cues; jaw displacement; language prominence patterns; metrical hierarchy; segmental articulation; syllable prominence patterns}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{21--43}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  title        = {{Jaw-Opening Patterns and Their Correspondence with Syllable Stress Patterns}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781009295888.004}},
  doi          = {{10.1017/9781009295888.004}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}