Beschreibung:
<jats:p>Past studies of speech breathing have observed short-term variations in the respiratory signal. In early kinematic work, Stetson observed “ripples“ on the breathing signals, which he interpreted to represent chest pulses for each syllable. Ladefoged and coauthors subsequently reported that brief excursions in respiratory data corresponded closely in time to stressed syllables. Segmental characteristics may also impact respiratory signals, however. In particular, voiceless obstruents have been associated with short-term decreases in breathing data, presumably reflecting rapid airflow venting through an open glottis. Indeed, much of Stetson's speech material consisted of repeated CV syllables with voiceless stop onsets. This study revisits the degree to which voiceless consonants correspond to negative excursions in respiratory signals obtained from several speakers. We collected acoustic data as well as intraoral pressure (to infer subglottal pressure non-invasively) and used inductance plethysmography to obtain displacements of the rib cage and abdomen. We use acoustic and intraoral pressure signals to locate voiceless segments as well as nasal consonants in stressed syllables, and assess the characteristics of the respiratory signals in these regions. The nasals provide a control condition for testing whether voiceless sounds have unique effects on the respiratory data.</jats:p>