On the Duration Quantum in English Words

Abstract

In such an English word pair as [mis] - [miz], [s] is longer than [z], while [i] preceding [z] is longer than that preceding [s]. This observation further leads to the conclusion that the vowel and the final consonant are complementary to each other and all the English words that consist of CVC, for instance, are pronounced with the same duration quantum. The above mentioned has been believed widely, but its presence is not yet established acoustically. Each of the vowels and consonants should have its inherent length. The problem would be how much it varies according to the circumstances. We will measure the length of all the sounds of the 50 CVC words used for this study, and examine the relation between the length of the vowel and the final consonant, and ascertain whether the duration quantum really exists in English words.