Ultrasound technology records tongues in action

Researchers from five Scottish universities are using ultrasound and MRI technology to build a three dimensional visualisation of tongues in action during speech. Beck voiceless alveolar The ' Seeing Speech ' website, launched today (20 September 2013), is the first resource of its kind to make publicly available the inner workings of the human vocal tract when speaking. The work gives us the best understanding yet of the processes that take place when we speak and will aid academics, teachers, health care professionals and actors. Ultrasound Tongue Imaging is a comparatively new technique that uses medical ultrasound machines to record an image of the surface of the tongue during speech. Coupled with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology, which images the entire vocal tract including the action of the larynx and the soft palate, academics have built a database of online recordings showing speakers' tongues moving inside their mouths during normal speech. Also included in the resource is a video database showing accent differences in speech production across varieties of English, which will aid the study of accents and accent change. The team, led by researchers at the University of Glasgow, were funded by the Carnegie Trust to create a unique online visual resource that will be an invaluable aid for researchers and teachers working in linguistics and phonetics as well as speech therapists, learners of English as a foreign language, and students of acting wanting to learn an accent.