Abstract From a fiberscope, the tip of which was swung from left to right in the pharynx, cinefilm frames were obtained which showed the cross-sectional shape of pharyngeal constrictions in back vowels. This information was combined with the information offered by X-ray pictures of the same subject phonating the same vowels on a different occasion. The results agree to a reasonable extent with previously published data obtained by different techniques, and support previous hypotheses regarding distance-to-area conversion in the pharyngeal region of the vocal tract.