Pre-war Phonetics data (89 Glass Mouth Maps) Returned to TUFS from University College London

March 10, 2017

Glass slides containing mouth maps with pre-war phonetics data produced at the phonetics laboratory of TUFS (then named Tokyo School of Foreign Languages) has been discovered at UCL, and were presented to TUFS on Tuesday 20 th September 2016.

The glass mouth maps were made by Prof. Chiba Tsutomu (1883-1959), who was in charge of TUFS's phonetics laboratory, and depict tongue and jaw positions for sound articulation meticulously traced from x-ray photographs.

At the presentation ceremony and lecture meeting held on the same day, the slides were handed over by Emeritus Professor Michael Ashby of UCL, who made the discovery, to President Tateishi. Prof. Ashby gave a lecture about the story of the discovery and the results of analysis of the data.

The glass mouth maps will be displayed in the exhibition space on the first floor of the library along with the relevant materials from 20 th -30 th September 2016.

Reference: TUFS Today 'Chiba Tsutomu and the Pre-War Phonetics Laboratory'

https://tufstoday.com/articles/160906-2/ (link in Japanese)

At the presentation ceremony (left: Prof. Michael Ashby, right: President Tateishi)

The scene at the lecture meeting (presenter: Prof. Michael Ashby)



Viewing the exhibition (guide: university archives researcher Kurakata)

The scene at the lecture meeting (chairperson: Vice President Saito Hiroko, professor of English phonetics)

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