Vowel height and the perception of consonantal nasality

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Abstract
By an articulatory synthesizer, the perception of the oral-nasal distinction in consonants was explored experimentally. This distinction was chosen because it is achieved by a very simple articulatory maneuver and because it is phonologically relevant in virtually every language. Lowering the velum in equal increments provided continua of CV syllables varying in size of velopharyngeal port which were divided perceptually into /d/ and /n/ categories by American English listeners. To test the hypothesis that the coarticulation of these nasal consonants with lower (more open) vowels requires a larger area of velopharyngeal coupling to give a nasal consonant percept, 3 oral-nasal continua incorporating the vowels /i/, .**GRAPHIC**. and /a/, respectively, were presented for identification. The results were compared with those of House and Stevens obtained with steady-state vowels and consonantal murmurs and with those of Hecker. Three conclusions emerged. First, the relationship between vowel height and the amount of velopharyngeal coupling needed for a nasal percept occurs in conditions where subjects are required to make linguistically relevant judgments. Second, the relationship can arise in conditions where vocalic coarticulation is present. Third, the relationship is not confined to vowels but can also be observed in the case of dynamically articulated consonants. One of the continua was also used for discrimination experiments, which yielded the classical pattern of high discriminability at the category boundary.

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