Coarticulation: Articulators (e.g. tongue, lips) for vowels and consonants are co-produced

• Speech segments overlap in time, influencing each other
• (e.g. Tongue position is more forward for [k] in [ki] than [ku])

Processes

Process: Specific articulatory adjustments during speech

• Change the nature of individual segments
• Make words either easier to articulate or perceive

Process Types

• Assimilation: Making a sound similar to another sound
• Dissimilation (e.g. fifths [fifθs] → [fifts])
  • Compare the produced sound to nearby sounds and check if they are more/less similar.
• Deletion (e.g. potato → ptato)
• Epenthesis: New sound added (e.g. warmth [mθ] → [mpθ])
• Metathesis: Exchanging order of sounds (e.g. prescription [prɪ] → [pər])
• Vowel Reduction: Becoming ə (e.g. Canada [kæn] → Canadian [kən])

Studying Processes

• MRI
• Electropalatography (EPG): Record contact of the tongue to the artificial palate

Tone

Tone: Word meaning change when pitch changes during production of the same sound (e.g. in Chinese 妈 vs 马)