Spectrum as a perceptual cue to vowel length in Czech, a quantity language.

Abstract

Vowel length contrasts in quantity languages are typically realized primarily through duration. This study tested whether spectral cues contribute to the perceptual identification of the short-long monophthongal contrasts in two varieties of Czech. Results showed that listeners attend to spectrum as well as to duration, both for the high vowel-length pairs, which display consistent spectral differentiation in production, and for the remaining contrasts, whose spectral differences are subtle. Reliance on spectrum was generally higher for Bohemian than Moravian listeners. The findings reveal the utilization of spectrum for vowel length perception in Czech, which is described as a "true" quantity language.