ARTICULATORY PATTERNS OF RUSSIAN DIPHTHONGIZED VOWELS: PILOT MRI INVESTIGATION Kedrova G. 1 , Anisimov N. 1 , Ushakov V. 2 1 Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2 NRC Kurchatov Institute kedr@philol.msu.ru ABSTRACT Paper presents main results of a targeted MRI- investigation of articulatory patterns of the Russian diphthongised (gliding) vowel phonemes, vowel /ɨ/ first and foremost. The investigation‟s relevance is assured by serious general discordance of opinions discussing articulatory patterns of diphthongised Russian vowel /ɨ/. Our research revealed critical differences in the vowel‟s articulatory dynamic patterns caused by specific role of core articulators in formation of heterogeneity of a speech sound. The first articulatory pattern supports gliding articulation of the vowel /ɨ/ through gradual displacement of tongue root and tongue blade/tongue dorsum towards anterior area of the buccal cavity, the other articulatory pattern is spatially and temporary realized through complex interaction of both tongue transformations and a special mandible articulatory gesture. Such exceptional jaw activity being unknown in common descriptions of the Russian articulatory base would make Russian vowel /ɨ/ a singular item within phonetic system of the Russian language. Keywords: Russian phonetics, vowels, diphthong, MRI. 1. INTRODUCTION It is well known that the Russian phonological system has no diphthongs as linguistic phonetic units, however most researchers acknowledge gliding articulatory gestures during pronunciation of some Russian vowels, first and foremost close central unrounded vowel /ɨ/ and rounded back vowel /o/ [1]. Whereas, articulatory pattern of the Russian vowel /o/ has been described in detail in multiple experimental and theoretical research as that of a diphthongised phoneme with the key role of the tongue and main articulator, the articulation pattern of the vowel /ɨ/ is still rather ambiguous. Various descriptions of the Russian vowel‟s /ɨ/ production constantly instigate phoneticians to discordance of opinions upon its main articulatory pattern(s). In the common literature there are at least two generally accepted opinions on articulatory dynamic mechanism of the vowel‟s /ɨ/ production. Author of the most cited source on phonetic standards of the Russian language R. Avanesov describes articulatory postures of the vowel /ɨ/ through correspondence with articulation of the Russian close front phoneme /i/: “in both cases tongue dorsum is raised high towards palate, but for /i/ an overall tongue movement is realized with its medial part, whereas for /ɨ/ it‟s the tongue back that is more active. Tongue tip during pronunciation of /i/ is close to lower teeth, whereas for /ɨ/ the whole tongue body is retracted backwards and the tongue tip is slightly raised. Switching from pronunciation of /i/ to pronunciation of /ɨ/ one could easily feel displacement of the focus of articulation backward into interior part of her/his oral cavity” [2]. Similar description of the gliding articulation of / ɨ/ is presented in the textbook of the Russian Phonetics written by L. Bondarko. Alongside with the cited descriptions there is another most authoritative statement on the /ɨ/‟s articulations exposed in the manual of Russian Phonetics written by M. Matusevič upon university lectures of L. Ščerba [3]. Matusevič describes two context dependent modes of articulation of the vowel /ɨ/: that of non- diphthongized close middle vowel as in /sɨn/ (son), /bɨk/ (bull), /mɨ/ (we), and that of a gliding (diphthongized) one as in /bɨt‟/ (to be), /mɨt‟/ (to wash) – see figure 1. Figure 1: Articulatory contours of the two variants of the Russian vowel /ɨ/‟s articulation. Multiplicity of the descriptions of vowel‟s / ɨ/ articulation constantly provokes further experimental instrumental investigation of articulatory dynamics of the Russian phoneme in question as instrumental research methods considered most informative and independent. One of the recently elaborated instrumental methods of articulatory dynamics of the Russian articulatory