Psychology 2134A/B Lecture Notes - Voice-Onset Time, Phonotactics, Categorical Perception
10 Nov 2012
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Document Summary
Voicing in stops refers to whether the vocal chords are vibrating or not when you produce that stop. Bear has a short vot (relates to a voiced stop consonant) Pear has a long vot (relates to a voiceless stop consonant) Measurable with respect to what the physical properties of a sound are. Can present people with sounds of different vots and see how people perceive them (long vots are voiceless and short vots are voiced) An interesting thing happens between 20ms vot and 30ms vot, people start perceiving bear as pear. Tape recordings and manipulating them and playing different lengths of vot and asking people to distinguish between da and ta. People were consistent in responses, between 0-20 ms as voiced and from 30-50ms as voiceless. People were categorical in their perceptions (definitely one category or definitely the other, not ambiguous) Almost like there is an imaginary boundary in our heads of voiced or voiceless.
