Backward normalization in the perception of temporal speech cues

Abstract

Two experiments will be reported which have investigated, for Icelandic, the effects of number of subsequent syllables in a word on the perception of vowel quantity (cued by duration) and preaspiration (cued by voice‐offset time). The first experiment randomly varied the duration of the stressed (first syllable) vowel and the number of syllables (one, two, or three) in a word. Results showed that the vowel duration needed to cue a long vowel depended on the number of syllables in the test word. The second experiment investigated the value of voice‐offset time needed to cue preaspiration in the first syllable of one‐, two‐ or three‐syllable words. Preliminary analysis shows backward normalization similar to but smaller than that found for vowels. Both experiments demonstrate that the perceived category of a phone can depend on information occurring after the immediately following syllable. [Work supported by the Icelandic Science Foundation.]