Perceptual invariance and onset spectra for stop consonants in different vowel environments

TLDR: In this paper, a series of perception experiments were conducted to determine if a brief stimulus in which only the spectral information at onset is preserved provides sufficient cues for identification of place of articulation across vowel contexts, and if it does, to define further the nature and size of the spectral window.

Abstract: In this series of perception experiments, we have attempted (a) to determine if a brief stimulus in which only the spectral information at onset is preserved provides sufficient cues for identification of place of articulation across vowel contexts, and (b) if it does, to define further the nature and size of the spectral window. Subjects were randomly presented with synthetically produced stimuli consisting of a 5‐ or 10‐msec noise burst followed by a brief voiced interval containing three formant transitions with onset and offset characteristics appropriate to the consonants [b, d, g] in the environment of the vowels [a, i, u], as well as stimuli with steady second‐ and third‐formant transitions. The length of the voiced interval was systematically varied from 40 to 5 msec. The results indicate that an onset spectrum consisting of the burst plus the initial 5 or 10 msec of voicing provide sufficient cues for the identification of the stop consonant, and that vocalic information can be reliably derived from these brief stimuli containing only one or two glottal pulses. [Research approved by an NIH grant.]