Feature Articles: The Phonetics and Phonology of a Voicing Contrast
A Study on Phonetic Characteristics of Voicing Contrasts of Stop Consonants
2018 Volume 22 Issue 2 Pages 69-80
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2018 Volume 22 Issue 2 Pages 69-80
The study examines the phonetic characteristics of voicing contrasts of initial stops in languages. The examination is based on physiological and acoustic data published in the past and newly analyzed for six languages. Acoustic and phonetic features such as VOT, onset F0, F0 contour, burst spectrum, and the tongue contact areas are functional in differentiating homorganic stops in many languages. VOT which is related to laryngeal timing to oral release seems to be a primary cue, but is not functional for stops in Burmese. These cues appear to play a major role in distinguishing the contrasts, together with other features.
