Production and perception of stop voicing in Central Australian Aboriginal English: A cross-generational study

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper reports on a series of studies investigating the production and perception of stop voicing contrasts in speakers of Central Australian Aboriginal English (CAAE; Alice Springs, Australia). Study 1 investigated Voice Onset Time (VOT) and Constriction Duration (CD) in stop consonants in naturalistic adult speech, and the speakers produced a VOT-based voicing distinction in word-initial stops, while medial voiceless stops differ from voiced stops in having both longer VOTs and longer CDs, at least for the syllable onset position. Study 2 investigated the implementation of stop voicing contrasts (VOT and CD) in a cohort of child CAAE speakers, and the results are consistent with the adult CAAE data, suggesting predictable intergenerational transmission. Finally, Study 3 tested child speakers’ perception of stop voicing contrasts using a mispronunciation detection task, where the participants demonstrated above-chance performance for the voicing distinction across all places of articulation. Together, the findings suggest that CAAE has phonemic stop voicing distinctions, like Mainstream Australian English, and that CAAE medial stops are jointly cued by both VOT and CD, a feature shared with the contact language, Kriol.