The aim of this study is to identify the articulatory underpinnings of the acoustic–phonetic correlates of functional speech decline in individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Thirteen individuals with varying severities of speech impairment secondary to ALS and 10 neurologically healthy controls speakers read 12 minimal word pairs, targeting the contrasts in the height, advancement, and length of vowels; the manner and place of articulation for consonants and consonant cluster; and liquid and glide approximants, 5 times. Sixteen acoustic features were extracted to characterize the phonetic contrasts of these minimal word pairs. These acoustic features were correlated with a functional speech index—intelligible speaking rate—using penalized regression, based on which the contributive features were identified as the acoustic–phonetic correlates of the functional speech outcome. Articulatory contrasts of the minimal word pairs were characterized by a set of dissimilarity indices derived by the dynamic time warping algorithm, which measured the differences in the displacement and velocity trajectories of tongue tip, tongue dorsum, lower lip, and jaw between the minimal word pairs. The contributive articulatory features to the acoustic–phonetic correlates were identified by penalized regression.

A variety of acoustic–phonetic features were identified as contributing to the functional speech outcome, of which the contrasts in vowel height and advancement, [r]–[l], [r]–[w], and initial cluster–singleton were the most affected in individuals with ALS. Differential articulatory underpinnings were identified for these acoustic–phonetic features. Impairments of these articulatory underpinnings, especially of tongue tip and tongue dorsum velocities and tongue tip displacement, were associated with reduced acoustic–phonetic contrasts of the minimal word pairs, in a context-specific manner.

The findings established explanatory relationships between articulatory impairment and the acoustic–phonetic profile of functional speech decline in ALS, providing useful information for developing targeted management strategies to improve and prolong functional speech in individuals with ALS.