Dynamic mechanical analysis, coupled with polarized step-scan FTIR transmission spectroscopy, has been used to monitor the submolecular motional behavior of uniaxially oriented polyamide 11. The dynamic in-phase spectra depend upon the morphology of the samples as well as on the polarization direction of the infrared radiation. The lineshape features of the dynamic in-phase spectra and their relationship to sample deformation are analyzed on the basis of changes of the internal coordinates, the reorientation movement of several functional groups, and the thickness change of the him during the stretching cycle. Dynamic infrared spectra are helpful for deconvolution of overlapping bands on the basis of their different responses to the external perturbation, which sometimes cannot be resolved well by derivative spectroscopy or curve-fitting analysis. The lineshape features have been used to follow microstructural changes after isothermal heat treatment. Near the N-H stretching frequency, two bands at 3270 cm(-1) and 3200 cm(-1) are resolved and analyzed in terms of Fermi resonance between the N-H stretching fundamental mode and the overtone and combination modes of the amide I and II vibrations. The dynamic response of the N-H stretching mode correlates with the modulation of hydrogen bond strength in uniaxially oriented PA-11. After thermal treatment at the highest temperature (190 degrees C), the dynamic response in this region is mainly caused by the modulation of crystals. In amide I region, three bands at 1680 cm(-1), 1648 cm(-1), and 1638 cm(-1) are separated and assigned to hydrogen bond-free, hydrogen-bonded amorphous, and hydrogen-bonded crystalline regions, respectively. The dynamic responses of the hydrogen-bonded regions are more sensitive to external perturbation. Two components are found in the amide II region, and the band at 3080 cm(-1) is assigned to the overtone resonance of the component with perpendicular polarization.