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Abstract

It has been shown that when listeners identify monosyllabic target words as beginning with /b/ versus /w/ on the basis of the duration of the initial formant transitions, they do so in relation to the rate of the word. Specifically, as speaking rate decreases such that the word becomes longer, the transition duration required to perceive /w/ as opposed to /b/ also becomes longer. We investigated whether the rate of speech subsequent to the target word also influences perception of the word-initial /b/—/w/ contrast. In a series of studies focusing on the monosyllabic target words bill and will, we found no evidence for the influence of this later-occurring rate information on identification. In each case, however, we did find the expected influence of the rate of the word itself. These results indicate that the domain of the relevant later-occurring rate information is limited. Possible temporal, structural, and lexical factors underlying this limitation are discussed.

Keywords

normalization phonetic perception phonetic segments speaking rate

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Limits on Later-Occurring Rate Information for Phonetic Perception

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