Anticipatory coarticulation and stability of speech in typically fluent speakers and people who stutter

This project replicates and extends previous work on coarticulation in velar-vowel sequences in English. Coarticulatory data for 46 young adult speakers, 23 who stutter and 23 who do not stutter show coarticulatory patterns in young adults who stutter that are no different from typical young adults. Additionally, the stability of velar-vowel production is analysed in token-to-token variability found in multiple repetitions of the same velar-vowel sequence. Across participants, identical patterns of coarticulation were found between people who do and do not stutter, but decreased stability was found in velar closure production in a significant subset of people who stutter. Other people who stutter appeared no different than typical speakers. Outcomes of this study suggest that articulatory maturation in young adults who stutter is, on average, no different from typical young adults, but that some young adults who stutter could be viewed as having less stably activated articulatory sub-systems.