ISCA Archive Eurospeech 1999
ISCA Archive Eurospeech 1999

Perception of overlapping syllables

William A. Ainsworth

Some experiments have been performed in which the perception of two consonant-vowel syllables, the starting time of one was delayed relative to the other, have been studied. The consonant was /w/ or /j/, the vowel /i/ or /a/, and the fundamental frequency of the syllable 100 or 150 Hz. The delay was varied from 0 ms (simultaneous presentation) to 200 ms (consecutive presentation). As expected, the frequency of hearing both consonants correctly increased as the delay in starting times increased and the amount of overlap decreased. Unexpectantly, however, differences in fundamental frequency appeared to have no effect. With certain degrees of overlap, consonants were perceived which were not present in the physical stimulus.