Grounding stop place systems in the perceptuo-motor substance of speech: On the universality of the labial–coronal–velar stop series

Vowels are by far the best understood units in human sound systems, and are well characterized at the articulatory, acoustic, and perceptual levels. This has permitted explanations of vowel systems as structured by perception, and has led to effective substance-based theories. By contrast, stops are far less thoroughly understood. In this paper we use an articulatory–acoustic model of the vocal tract to examine stop consonant place in terms of both articulation and formant values. This allows us to locate each place of articulation in the F1–F2–F3 space, and to demonstrate in “articulatory nomograms” how formants evolve while closure is displaced from the front to the back of the vocal tract. Then, in the framework of the “Perception for Action Control Theory” that we have developed in recent years, we show that the near universal labial–coronal–velar stop series (i.e., /b d ɡ/ or /p t k/) is a perceptually optimal structure for stops just as /i a u/ is for vowels, provided that it is embedded in a suitable perceptuo-motor framework.

► A model of the vocal tract is used to describe stop consonant place systems. ► Each place of articulation is located in the F1–F2–F3 space. ► Articulatory nomograms are provided describing formant evolution from front to back. ► The near universal labial–coronal–velar stop series appears perceptually optimal. ► An adequate framework is provided by the Perception-for-Action-Control Theory.