Abstract
To test the generality of the finding that American English (AE) vowels are specified by dynamic information defined over syllable onsets and offsets taken together, the perception of 14 Northern German vowels produced in /d–vowel–t/ syllables in a carrier sentence was examined. Separate groups of native German speakers were tested in four conditions: (1) silent-center syllables, in which vocalic nuclei were attenuated to silence, leaving syllable onsets and offsets in their appropriate temporal relationships; (2) fixed duration silent-center syllables, in which silent intervals were adjusted so that all syllables were the same duration; (3) initials, in which only syllable onsets remained; and (4) finals, in which only syllable offsets remained. Silent-center syllables were identified very well (90% correct). As predicted, performance on fixed duration silent-center syllables was significantly poorer (70%), although still better than on either initials (45%) or finals (49%). These data corroborate those reported previously for AE vowels and demonstrate the perceptual importance of dynamic spectral information. Acoustical analysis is under way to examine similarities and differences in the dynamic specification of German and AE vowels. [Work supported by NIDCD.]
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