Influence of coda stop features on perceived vowel duration

Abstract

Four experiments tested what cues contribute to English speakers’ perception of vowel duration. Listeners categorized the duration of vowels as ‘long’ or ‘short’ for stimuli produced with voiced, voiceless, breathy voiced, or voiceless aspirated stop codas. Listeners demonstrated a strong ability to perceive vowel duration, though perception was continuous rather than categorical. There were several interacting factors influencing perceived vowel duration, based on expectations set by the presence of particular codas and also acoustic effects of the coda on the vowel. When the coda was removed, vowels that had been produced before voiced codas were perceived as longer than vowels produced before voiceless codas, though they exhibited the opposite effect when codas were present. Vowels were also perceived as longer when produced before breathy voiced stops, regardless of whether or not the stop was present. The steeper f0 falls associated with voiced codas within these stimuli likely contributed to the longer perceived duration of vowels from this environment; manipulating f0 contours eliminated effects of the original coda on perceived vowel duration. The effects of the production environment on perceived vowel duration suggest a possible perceptual pathway for the voicing effect on vowel duration.