Dudnyk Z. Articulatory gesture: Ontology and Analysis (experimental phonetic research)

Dissertational research is devoted to studying the substantial structure of an articulatory gesture as a unit of speech production. The review of ontological and gnosiological arguments in general phonetics is made to gain insight into the nature of speech production and then to adapt such unit for the phonetic analysis in both aspects of speech reproduction and functioning. The role of speech ontology source - the speaker - and, in particular, the dynamics of his/her performing intentions and speech movement construction levels underlying the implementation of natural and functional components of physiological substratum is taken into account. The analysis of articulatory gesture is made for five languages - Ukrainian, Russian, English, German, and Italian - by its intrinsic characteristics, namely, coordination and integration of pronunciation effort on the basis of acoustic speech signals. The implementation of substantial structure and especially functional mechanisms of articulation, phonation, and initiation are described in terms of performing intention features in each of the languages. The integration of an articulatory gesture is analysed in Ukrainian and Russian written texts in the string sequence of segments CV and CC within phonetic words. Key words: general phonetics, articulatory gesture, speech production, performing intention, speech movement construction levels, substantial structure, coordination and integration of pronunciation efforts, acoustic signal.