Our paper addresses the question of covariation between intraoral air pressure and size of contact area between tongue and palate during the articulation of the Norwegian stop consonants /t/ and /d/. An EPG investigation of the two plosives shows a larger contact area between tongue and palate for /t/ than for /d/. An investigation of intraoral air pressure during the articulation of the two plosives shows higher air pressure for /t/ than for /d/. Presumably, the covariation between air pressure and contact area between tongue and palate may be accounted for in terms of general phonetic-physiological factors. In order to prevent air from escaping between the tongue and the palate during the closing stage of the plosive, and thus producing a fricative, a larger contact area is needed for the voiceless than for the voiced plosive since the air pressure is stronger for the voiceless than for the voiced plosive.

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Bibliographic reference.  Moen, Inger / Simonsen, Hanne Gram / Huseby, Morten / Grue, John (2001): "The relationship between intraoral air pressure and tongue/palate contact during the articulation of norwegian /t/ and /d/", In EUROSPEECH-2001, 265-268.