ISCA Archive SpeechProsody 2014
ISCA Archive SpeechProsody 2014

The effects of stress/accent on VOT depend on language (English, Spanish), consonant (/d/, /t/) and linguistic experience (monolinguals, bilinguals)

Miquel Simonet, Joseph Casillas, Yamile Díaz

This study examines Voice Onset Times of coronal stops in utterance-initial position in two languages. Crucially, the effects of lexical stress (stressed, unstressed syllable) on VOT are analyzed. The study investigates aspirated stops (English /t/), short-lag voiceless stops (English /d/, Spanish /t/) and prevoiced stops (Spanish /d/). Three groups of speakers provide data: English monolinguals, Spanish monolinguals, and proficient Spanish-English bilinguals. The study finds that lexical stress lengthens aspiration (English /t/) and prevoicing (Spanish /d/) but it does not alter significantly short-lag stops (Spanish /t/, English /d/). Monolinguals and bilinguals differ slightly in their phonetic behavior. Implications for gestural coordination as well as for feature theory are discussed.