Article ID: e26.17
Previous studies on geminate and singleton consonants have employed the ratio of geminate duration to singleton duration (the GS ratio) as an invariant parameter to nullify the effects of speaking rate variation. However, the validity of the implicit assumption that the GS ratio effectively compensates for duration variations induced by speaking rate has not yet been empirically tested. This study formalized this GS ratio assumption mathematically in two scenarios: linear and logarithmic scales of duration. Furthermore, it examined the validity of this assumption using parameters derived from previous research. Our analysis identified the specific mathematical conditions that must be satisfied for the implicit assumption to hold. The empirical test revealed that these conditions were not met, indicating that the GS ratio varies across different speaking rates. These results suggest that the implicit assumption of the GS ratio is not supported in either linear or logarithmic scales. This contradicts the assumptions in previous studies and indicates that careful verification is necessary when employing the GS ratio.
