Acoustic properties and perception of minimal contrasts in Valencian Catalan sibilants
Keywords:
Acoustic phonetics, Perception, Consonants, Fricatives, Sibilants, Valencian CatalanAbstract
Standard Valencian Catalan has three sibilant fricative consonants: //, // and //. Whereas the contrast between // and // seems unquestionable, the existence of a contrast between // and // is much more dubious. Our first goal is to determine if, in a sample of hyperarticulate speech (Fonet, Gonzàlvez et al., 2007), // is different from // and // with respect to seven acoustic parameters: duration, harmonicity, spectral peak and four spectral moments: center of gravity, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis. The data indicate that // and // display a clear contrast in duration, harmonicity, and skewness; // and // differ in harmonicity, standard deviation, kurtosis, and, especially, in two features typically associated with place of articulation: spectral peak and center of gravity, but to a lesser extent than in other Catalan dialects. The second goal of the paper is to assess if Valencian speakers are able to distinguish between the two pairs of fricatives: //-// and //-//, using stimuli from the center of each consonant. Perception tests reveal that subjects clearly differentiate the two alveolar consonants, but have more difficulty in distinguishing the pair //-//.
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