Abstract
To determine the best acoustic variables to discriminate the affricate [ts] and fricative [s], word materials produced by single- and multi-Japanese speakers were analyzed. An intensity envelope of a rise, steady, and decay part of [ts] and [s] was respectively approximated by a linear line with positive, zero, and negative slopes, and duration of the each part was measured manually and automatically. Discriminant analyses gave the smallest discriminant error with a combination of a rise part duration and sum of a steady and decay part duration in all combinations of methods for measuring duration (manual and automatic) and speakers of word materials (single and multi). This result strongly suggests that the best variables to discriminate the affricate [ts] and fricative [s] are a combination of the rise duration and the sum of steady and decay durations.
