articulatory phonology

A theory which aims to integrate PHONETICS and PHONOLOGY, using basic units of CONTRAST defined as gestures – abstract characterizations of ARTICULATORY events, with an intrinsic time dimension. Utterances are modelled as organized patterns (constellations) of gestures, in which the gestural units may overlap in time. The resulting phonological structures provide a HIERARCHY of articulatorily based natural classes, which are used to describe the phonological structure of specific languages and to account for phonological variation.