2 Articulatory phonetics

While the field of articulatory phonetics dates back millennia, throughout most of the field’s history, investigations have been largely impressionistic. With many relatively recent and continually evolving technological innovations, the tools and methods we can use to analyze speech articulation have opened up the space for new discoveries and approaches. Moreover, these technologies are increasingly affordable and portable, meaning that they can be used “in the field,” in community contexts with speakers of Indigenous languages in North America. As new technologies develop, our awareness is concurrently growing about the importance and necessity of conducting ethical and engaged research with Indigenous communities. In this chapter we survey tools and methods that have been used for articulatory research with Indigenous languages in North America, with a focus on how these tools and methods can enrich and enhance community-based research. Articulatory data can be an important part of both language documentation and language revitalization, as it can provide detailed information about the complexities and variation in linguistic sound systems, which can be used to assist learners in reclaiming their languages. As technologies and perspectives continue to evolve, the potential for articulatory phonetic research to inform language revitalization practices continues to grow.