La percepción categorial de /b-p/ en español basada en las diferencias de duración

Abstract

The aim of this study was to confirm whether the durations of silence were a sufficient cue to distinguish between /b/ and /p/ in Spanish and whether it happened categorically as in English. Two tests were done: the first one was an identification test and the second one was a discrimination test. Twenty-three synthetic stimuli with phonetic realizations of the words cava, capa and *cappa were prepared. The durations of silence ranged from 26,4 ms to 220 ms with 8,8 ms intervals. The results show that, despite the existing differences between phonetic realizations in both languages, the categorical perception based on durations of silence in labial stops is present in Spanish, as well as in English, and also that the durations of silence are a sufficient cue to distinguish between /b/ and /p/. As is the case in English, there is a third category /pp/ that, without being phonemically distinctive, is also perfectly perceived and has a rather long duration.