Interaction of speaking rate and postvocalic consonantal voicing on vowel duration in American English

Abstract

Vowel duration is influenced both by speaking rate and by voicing of the postvocalic consonant. Our study systematically investigates how these two factors interact. Syllable and segment durations were measured for /pVC/ target syllables containing one of eight vowels and voiced or voiceless stops or fricatives. Target syllables were produced in sentence contexts at three speaking rates by four female and three male native American English speakers. Our findings replicate and extend Klatt's incompressibility model of vowel duration [D. H. Klatt, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 54, 1102–1104 (1973)]. The two factors influencing vowel duration do not combine independently in a multiplicative or additive fashion. Instead, they interact such that vowels manifest a resistance to further shortening.