Abstract
Some languages, such as many varieties of English, use short-lag and long-lag VOT to distinguish word- and syllable-initial voiced vs. voiceless stop phonemes. According to a popular view, the optimal VOT category boundary between the two types of stops moves towards larger values as articulation rate becomes slower (and speech segments longer), and listeners accordingly shift the perceptual VOT category boundary. According to an alternative view, listeners do not shift the VOT category boundary with a change in articulation rate, because the same category boundary remains optimal across different rates of articulation in normal speech, although a shift in the optimal boundary location can be induced in the laboratory by instructing speakers to use artificially extreme articulation rates. In this study we compared the effectiveness of rate-independent VOT category boundaries applied to word-initial stop phonemes in spontaneous English speech, against the effectiveness of Miller et al.’s (1986) rate-dependent VOT category boundary applied to laboratory speech. The effectiveness of the two types of category boundaries were comparable, when spontaneous speech data were controlled for factors other than articulation rate. Our results suggest that perceptual VOT category boundaries need not shift with a change in articulation rate under normal circumstances.
Highlights
Voice onset time is a primary acoustic cue that differentiates voiced from voiceless stop phonemes in word- and syllable- initial positions in many languages (Beckman et al, 2011; Cho & Ladefoged, 1999; Kessinger & Blumstein, 1997; Lisker & Abramson, 1964, 1967, 1970)
To see how relevant the existing literature on perceptual rate normalization of category boundary locations is for naturally occurring ranges of VOT values, we examined wordinitial voiced vs. voiceless English stop phonemes in spontaneous speech
The semi-interquartile ranges (SIQR) was not calculated for voiced phonemes, as many of them were assigned a VOT of 0 ms, which in many cases had no numerical significance
Summary
Voice onset time (the interval between stop release and onset of vocal cord vibration, hereafter VOT) is a primary acoustic cue that differentiates voiced from voiceless stop phonemes in word- and syllable- initial positions in many languages (Beckman et al, 2011; Cho & Ladefoged, 1999; Kessinger & Blumstein, 1997; Lisker & Abramson, 1964, 1967, 1970). The widely accepted view rests on claims that the VOT category boundary location that optimally distinguishes short-lag and longlag categories shifts with articulation rate. On this view, languages that contrast these categories such as English require rate-dependent VOT category boundaries to distinguish voiced and voiceless stop phonemes effectively, with a larger VOT value for the category boundary at a slower articulation rate (e.g., Miller et al, 1986). Languages that contrast these categories such as English require rate-dependent VOT category boundaries to distinguish voiced and voiceless stop phonemes effectively, with a larger VOT value for the category boundary at a slower articulation rate (e.g., Miller et al, 1986)
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