Pitch as a Voicing Cue

Abstract

The pitch change at the onset of voicing after a period of articulatory closure for a consonant reflects the state of the glottis during that closure. In initial position, a low rising pitch indicates a closed glottis and high falling pitch a glottis that is still partly open. An experiment is reported which shows that, for about 90% of the subjects, this pitch change in the vowel can cue the voiced/voiceless distinction for a preceding stop consonant in English. Control conditions suggest that this cue depends not upon low-frequency energy content, but upon the pitch sensation.