More on the /t/:/d/ distinction in American alveolar flaps

Abstract

In American English, alveolar stop consonants occurring in intervocalic position tend to be articulated as a flap (or tap). It has long been claimed that the duration of the vowel immediately preceding the flap is a primary cue to its underlying voicing status. Evidence will be presented to show that listeners can discriminate between naturally produced minimal pairs containing flaps (e.g., coating, coding) based on cues other than preceding vowel duration or the acoustic properties of the flap itself. Consistent differences in phonetic quality and overall quantity between such word pairs will be discussed.