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Linguistic uses of segmental duration in English: Acoustic and perceptual evidence
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1976
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NeurolinguisticsIndividual Phonetic SegmentsPsycholinguisticsSpeech SciencePerceptual EvidencePhonologySpeech RecognitionPhoneticsGrammarLanguage StudiesLinguistic UsesHealth SciencesCognitive ScienceSpeech ProductionProsody (Linguistics)Segmental TimingSpeech CommunicationLanguage PerceptionSegmental DurationSpeech ProcessingSpeech PerceptionLinguistics
The pattern of segmental durations and pauses conveys linguistic information, and acoustic measures have been used to identify variables shaping sentence durational structure. This study reviews the segmental duration literature and relates it to perceptual discrimination of duration and psychophysical data on listeners' ability to make linguistic decisions based solely on durational cues. The authors analyze acoustic measures of segmental timing and perceptual data to assess listeners' use of duration alone for linguistic judgments. The results show that in English, duration serves as a primary perceptual cue for distinguishing long versus short vowels, voiced versus voiceless fricatives, phrase‑final versus non‑final syllables, voiced versus voiceless postvocalic consonants, stressed versus unstressed or reduced vowels, and the presence or absence of emphasis. Subject Classification: 43.70.40, 43.70.70, 43.70.20.
The pattern of durations of individual phonetic segments and pauses conveys information about the linguistic content of an utterance. Acoustic measures of segmental timing have been used by many investigators to determine the variables that influence the durational structure of a sentence. The literature on segmental duration is reviewed and related to perceptual data on the discrimination of duration and to psychophysical data on the ability of listeners to make linguistic decisions on the basis of durational cues alone. We conclude that, in English, duration often serves as a primary perceptual cue in the distinctions between (1) inherently long verses short vowels, (2) voiced verses voiceless fricatives, (3) phrase-final verses non-final syllables, (4) voiced versus voiceless postvocalic consonants, as indicated by changes to the duration of the preceding vowel in phrase-final positions, (5) stressed verses unstressed or reduced vowels, and (6) the presence or absence of emphasis. Subject Classification: [43]70.40, [43]70.70, [43]70.20.