Simultaneous Measurements of Intraoral Pressure, Force of Labial Contact, and Labial Electromyographic Activity during Production of the Stop Consonant Cognates /p/ and /b/

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Abstract
Simultaneous measures of intraoral pressure, labial pressure, and labial electromyographic (EMG) activity were obtained from 18 normal adult speakers in an effort to provide descriptive data relevant to the supra-glottal characteristics of the English bilabial stops /p/ and /b/. The stops were produced in isolated nonsense syllables such that their position and the vocalic stress varied systematically. The results suggest that (1) the labial gesture for /p/ and /b/ appears to be essentially monotypic, requiring no more forceful labial contact or EMG activity for one than for the other; (2) intraoral pressure provides reliable discrimination between /p/ and /b/, irrespective of consonantal position and vocalic stress, while labial pressure and EMG activity provide relatively poor discrimination; (3) when all three variables are combined, reliable /p/-/b/ discrimination obtained when little or no vocalization follows the stop, and poor discrimination is observed when vocalization follows the stop; (4) a considerable amount of between-subject variability is evident in all three parameters; thus, caution is necessary when making assumptions based upon data of this type.

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