The role of allophonic variation in the perception of the junctural position of /l/.
Dawn L. Dutton · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1992
Many theories of spoken word recognition assume speech is segmented at syllable or word boundaries prior to contact with the lexicon. A number of researchers [see K. W. Church, Cognition 25, 53–69 (1987)] have observed systematic acoustic differences (or allophonic variations) within a phonetic class that may serve as cues to juncture points between syllables or words. The most common difference cited between syllable initial and syllable final /l/ is the proximity of the first two formants. Some researchers have also noted a difference in the amplitude profile of /l/ depending on its position relative to a word boundary. In this experiment, two starting phrases, ‘‘see leaves’’ and ‘‘seal eaves,’’ were synthesized. F1 frequency profile, F2 frequency profile, and amplitude profile were varied orthogonally for both starting phrases. The junctural position of /l/ was cued primarily by F1 frequency profile. F2 frequency profile, and thus the proximity of the first two formants, and amplitude profile seemed to play a very small role in the perception of /l/ position. [Work supported by NIDCD Grant No. DC 00219 to SUNY at Buffalo.]