Cross-linguistic spectral and voicing properties of [v

Abstract

This study reports on the spectral characteristics and voicing properties of [v] in English, Greek, Russian, and Serbian, specifically testing whether inventory structure and the phonological status of [v] correlate with phonetic differences. Phonologically, [v] patterns with obstruents in Greek and English, with sonorants in Serbian and with both obstruents and sonorants in Russian. The present study expands upon previous work in two ways. First, it compares the results to English, which differs from the other three languages in having [w] against which [v] contrasts. Second, it tests the hypothesis that spectral differences correlate with the degree of devoicing. Our results show that [v] is fully and consistently voiced throughout its duration in Greek, Russian, and Serbian, regardless of environment, but exhibits significant devoicing in all environments in English, and moreover varies greatly across speakers. These results show first that the correlation between the spectral properties and phonological status of [v] in Greek, Russian, and Serbian does not arise due to differences in the degree of devoicing of [v]. Second, they suggest that when phonological status is the same, as in Greek and English, other factors such as inventory structure may interact with the phonetic realization of a segment.