On the timing and coordination of articulatory movements: Historical perspectives and current theoretical challenges

Abstract

The timing and coordination of articulatory movements is essential to producing speech. A considerable body of literature explores the cognitive and motor control mechanisms involved. This review provides an accessible introduction to that literature, while highlighting articulatory phenomena that challenge prevailing views. We begin with the concept of dynamic articulatory gestures, and their role in the coproduction account of coarticulation. We then outline prominent accounts of gestural coordination. These accounts generally assume that speech planning involves the selection of coarsely grained units, which then unfold involuntarily. Later we consider evidence that speakers rapidly adapt to surprising acoustic feedback, that they plan around the expected timing of upcoming acoustic consequences, and that they reshape the articulatory time course on the fly. These findings suggest that movements can be flexibly modified, and that execution can considerably overlap planning. We advocate for speech models that permit speakers fine‐grained control over unfolding articulation.