ease of articulation

[Jean-Pierre Chevrot]

I have to make a paper for a special issue of a French linguistics journal.
The focus of this issue is "variation phonologique et rel=E2chement". This
focus could be translated as:  "phonological variation and ease of
articulation". In my paper, I will present some data, and I want to discuss
this idea of "ease of articulation" (which I find questionable).
So I' m looking around to find some objective definitions of "ease of
articulation", in the area of phonological development or in other areas
(speech scientists, etc.)
My questions are : what could be an easier articulation ? Could it be
defined by the shape, number and magnitude of the articulatory gestures? Is
it possible to define it in a segmental way, without any phonotactic view ?

=46or example, the syllable kro seems to be more difficult to pronounce than
the syllable ko. But French children aged from 2 to 5 are prone to say
"crocrodile" instead of "crocodile". So, complex+complex is less difficult
than complex+easy !
Is there any other measure of ease of articulation (somebody tells me that
Lindblom is carrying out some works about consumption of O2 during
speech...)?
What are your ideas about this question, and  do you know of any reference
about it.

Thanks for your help
Jean-Pierre Chevrot.

____________________________________________________________

Jean Pierre Chevrot
COVAREC - LIDILEM
Universit=E9 Stendhal
DU, 1180 Av Centrale
BP25 - 38040 GRENOBLE Cedex 9 FRANCE