Activity of Some Extrinsic and Intrinsic Tongue Muscles in the Articulation of American English Vowels

Most previous electromyographic studies of tongue muscles have been limited to those extrinsic muscles which are easily accessible: the genioglossus and palatoglossus. Recent experiments have provided access to the styloglossus, among the extrinsic muscles, and to the intrinsic fibers of the tongue. Thus, a fuller picture of muscular synergisms in the positioning and shaping of the tongue is beginning to appear. This study reports findings from three subjects who spoke 10 American English vowels in a labial consonant frame preceded by schwa. All electromyographic activity was recorded from hooked‐wire electrodes inserted into the various muscles by means of hypodermic needles. The results reveal as many differences as similarities between the articulatory strategies of the subjects. It appears that the similar articulatory configurations that underlie the linguistically relevant acoustic structures of the vowels can be achieved by a variety of muscular patterning. [This research was supported by the National Institute of Dental Research.]