The modeling of tongue tip in Standard Chinese using MRI

Abstract

In this paper, the tongue tip was modeled based on the articulatory data from MRI images in Standard Chinese. First, the MRI articulatory database of Standard Chinese, including 9 vowels and 75 consonant variants, were established. Second, Principle Component Analysis (PCA) was performed on the tongue shape to find articulatory factors, and the result showed that it would be more precise and concise when the tongue was divided as the tongue tip and tongue body and modeled separately. Finally, according to this result, the tongue tip was modeled by two articulatory parameters: Tongue Tip Protrude and Tongue Tip Raise, which represents the protruding/advancing and raising/retroflexing movements of the tongue tip.