The Influence of Precursive Sequences on the Perception of Synthesized Vowels

Abstract

The duration of a vowel sound can influence the way in which it is categorized by listeners, especially if the formant frequencies are such as to render the identity of the vowel ambiguous. It is possible, however, that the durations of speech sounds are not perceived absolutely but, rather, relative to the durations of the sounds which precede them. An experiment has been performed to test this hypothesis. It was found that the classification of vowel sounds is influenced by the rhythm of sounds in a precursive sequence, especially if the duration of these vowels lies in the region between the normal durations of “short” and “long” vowels.