The contribution of fundamental frequency and voice onset time to the /zi/-/si/ distinction

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Abstract
Functional measurement was utilized to study the acoustic cues that contribute to the perception of the voicing difference in /zi/ and /si/. Rather than simply varying the acoustic signal along a single dimension and observing the effect on perception, changes along 2 acoustic dimensions were covaried in a factorial manner. The time between the onset of the syllable and the onset of vocal-cord vibration called voice onset time (VOT) was covaried with the fundamental frequency (F0). Observers [human] were asked to indicate where each stimulus fell on a scale from /zi/ to /si/. Both VOT and FO contributed to the perception of voicing. Sounds were judged as more /zi/-like with decreases in VOT and with decreases in the F0. The frequency contour of F0 during the syllable had very little effect beyond that accounted for by the frequency of F0 at the onset of vocal-cord vibration. The role of F0 could not be attributed to the possibility that there was less energy at the 1st formant with higher frequency values of F0. A quantitative model assuming that VOT and F0 are perceived independently provided a good description of the observed judgments.

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