Previous studies of short‐term articulatory dynamics have demonstrated that the lips, jaw and tongue act together in a coordinated, synergistic manner and that restraints on one articulator require compensation by others to preserve acoustic contrasts [B. Lindblom and J. Sundberg, J. Acoust. Soc. Am.50, 1166–1179 (1971); C. Riordan, J. Acoust. Soc. Am.62, 998–1002 (1977)]. It has also been shown that the lower lip may move independently of the jaw when required by competing articulatory demands [H. Sussman, P. MacNeilage, and R. Hanson, J. Speech Hear. Res.16, 397–420 (1973)]. The present study explores the possibility that lip and jaw independence may be used to preserve acoustic contrasts in long‐term articulatory compensation for anatomical abnormalities. The lip and jaw movements of two subjects with surgically repaired cleft lip and palate were studied using frame‐by‐frame, pellet‐tracking analysis of a 60 frame/s x‐ray film and acoustic analysis of a simultaneous audio recording. Subjects repeated /əCVCə/ utterances (where C = /p, m/ and V = /i, u, a, æ/) and the data were analyzed from the point of maximal closure for the first consonant, through the vowel to the same point in the second consonant. Results indicate that while the subjects did approximate normal acoustic targets: (1) the upper lip remains immobile; (2) the lower‐lip moves with greater velocity and to a greater extent than expected; and (3) jaw movement was relatively unaffected. These results can presumably be attributed to the anatomical abnormalities and surgical history of the subjects which rendered the upper‐lip an ineffective articulator and caused the lower lip to compensate with faster and larger movements.