The role of release bursts in the perception of [s]-stop clusters

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Abstract
The role of the release burst as a cue to the perception of stop consonants following [s] was investigated in a series of studies. Experiment 1 demonstrated that silent closure duration and burst duration can be traded as cues for the ‘‘say’’–‘‘stay’’ distinction. Experiment 2 revealed a similar trading relation between closure duration and burst amplitude. Experiments 3 and 4 suggested, perhaps surprisingly, that absolute, not relative, burst amplitude is important. Experiment 5 demonstrated that listeners’ sensitivity to bursts in a labeling task is at least equal to their sensitivity in a burst detection task. Experiments 6 and 7 replicated the trading relation between closure duration and burst amplitude for labial stops in the ‘‘slit’’–‘‘split’’ and ‘‘slash’’–‘‘splash’’ distinctions, although burst amplification, in contrast to attenuation, had no effect. All experiments revealed that listeners are remarkably sensitive to the presence of even very weak release bursts.

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