Voc2Speak

Producing speech demands fine-grained coordination across different body parts. On the one hand, there is the vocal apparatus, a whole orchestra of muscles spanning the respiratory system, the larynx with its vocal folds, and the upper articulators, tuned and timed precisely to create an acoustic signal that others can understand. On the other hand, the rest of our body is usually active too when we speak – we move our head, upper limbs, or even whole body to underscore meaning, rhythm, or emphasis.

One of the many challenges infants face is learning to conduct this orchestra of speech along with the additional body movements. In the project Voc2Speak we look at early language acquisition from a multimodal and more holistic perspective. As many earlier studies we record infants’ vocalizations longitudinally from 6 to 14 months of age. In addition, however, we monitor their body motions with video-based motion-tracking and record their respiration using RespTrack. Our colleagues in Grenoble complement this by ultrasound tongue imaging. This allows us to investigate coordination between the different measures at a given age but also to track developmental changes and potential interactions in the sense of a dynamically developing system.

Voc2Speak listens to the whole ensemble at once, tracing how some instruments are already playing in sync from early on, while infants slowly bring the rest of the orchestra together into the coordinated performance we call speech.

Click here for more information on the project.

Voc2Speak is a bilateral French and German project funded by the ANR and DFG.