Perceptual properties of English fricatives

Abstract

A series of experiments was conducted to determine the properties that contribute to fricative perception. Listeners’ identification of English fricatives based on fricative-vowel syllables and on isolated fricative noise portions reveals the perceptual salience of each fricative and the extent to which fricative-to-vowel transitions contribute to identification. Two further experiments specifically address perception of the nonsibilant fricatives, which, it has been claimed, may be based more on semantic or facial factors. One experiment investigates how a semantically matching or mismatching precursor affects perception of minimal pairs (e.g., fin-thin). A second experiment determines the extent to which auditory and/or visual information each contribute to fricative perception. Moreover, regression of these perceptual data on acoustic measurements, including noise duration, amplitude, relative amplitude, spectral peak location, spectral moments, and locus equations [see Jongman et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 103, 3086A (1998)], indicates which acoustic properties play a significant role in fricative perception. [Work supported by NIH.]