Most studies of speech perception employ highly controlled stimuli. It is not always clear how such results extend to the processing of natural speech. In a series of experiments, we progressively explored the role of voice onset time (VOT) and potential secondary cues in adult labeling of stressed syllable-initial /b d p t/ produced by typically developing two-year-old learners of American English. Taken together, the results show the following: (a) Adult listeners show phoneme boundaries in labeling functions comparable to what have been established for adult speech. (b) Adult listeners can be sensitive to distributional properties of the stimulus set, even in a study that employs highly varied naturalistic productions from multiple speakers. (c) Secondary cues are available in the speech of two-year-olds, and these may influence listener judgments. Cues may differ across places of articulation and the VOT continuum. These results can lend insight into how clinicians judge child speech during assessment and also have implications for our understanding of the role of primary and secondary acoustic cues in adult perception of child speech.
References
1.
Abramson
, A. S.
, and Lisker
, L.
(1967
). “Discriminability along the voicing continuum: Cross-language tests
,” in Proceedings of the 6th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences
, Prague, Czech Republic, September 7–13, pp. 569
–573
.2.
Abramson
, A. S.
, and Lisker
, L.
(1985
). “Relative power of cues: F0 shift versus voice timing
,” in Linguistic Phonetics: Essays in Honor of Peter Ladefoged
, edited by V.
Fromkin
(Academic
, New York
), pp. 25
–33
.3.
Arkebauer
, H. J.
, Hixon
, T. J.
, and Hardy
, J. C.
(1967
). “Peak intraoral air pressures during speech
,” J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res.
10
(2
), 196
–208
.4.
Baese-Berk
, M. M.
(2019
). “Interactions between speech perception and production during learning of novel phonemic categories
,” Attn. Percept. Psychophys.
81
(4
), 981
–1005
.5.
Bleile
, K.
(2004
). Manual of Articulation and Phonological Disorders: Infancy through Adulthood
, 2nd ed. (Delmar
, Clifton Park, NY
).6.
Boersma
, P.
, and Weenink
, D.
(2010
). “Praat (version 5.1.35) [computer program]
,” http://www.praat.org (Last viewed 06/09/2021).7.
Brady
, S. A.
, and Darwin
, C. J.
(1978
). “Range effect in the perception of voicing
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
63
(5
), 1556
–1558
.8.
Cho
, T.
, and Ladefoged
, P.
(1999
). “Variation and universals in VOT: Evidence from 18 languages
,” J. Phon.
27
(2
), 207
–229
.9.
Coady
, J. A.
, Kluender
, K. R.
, and Evans
, J. L.
(2005
). “Categorical perception of speech by children with specific language impairments
,” J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res.
48
(4
), 944
–959
.10.
Cooper
, F. S.
, Delattre
, P. C.
, Liberman
, A. M.
, Borst
, J. M.
, and Gerstman
, L. J.
(1952
). “Some experiments on the perception of synthetic speech sounds
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
24
(6
), 597
–606
.11.
Diehl
, R. L.
, Elman
, J. L.
, and McCusker
, S. B.
(1978
). “Contrast effects on stop consonant identification
,” J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Percept. Perform.
4
(4
), 599
–609
.12.
Eckman
, F.
, Iverson
, G.
, and Song
, J.
(2015
). “Overt and covert contrast in L2 phonology
,” J. Second Lang. Pronunc.
1
(2
), 254
–278
.13.
Edwards
, J.
, and Beckman
, M. E.
(2008
). “Methodological questions in studying consonant acquisition
,” Clin. Linguist. Phon.
22
(12
), 937
–956
.14.
Eguchi
, S.
, and Hirsh
, I. J.
(1969
). “Development of speech sounds in children
,” Acta Otolaryngol. Suppl.
257
, 1
–51
.15.
Forrest
, K.
, and Rockman
, B. K.
(1988
). “Acoustic and perceptual analysis of word-initial stop consonants in phonologically disordered children
,” J. Speech Hear. Res.
31
(3
), 449
–459
.16.
Forrest
, K.
, Weismer
, G.
, Hodge
, M.
, Dinnsen
, D. A.
, and Elbert
, M.
(1990
). “Statistical analysis of word-initial /k/ and /t/ produced by normal and phonologically disordered children
,” Clin. Linguist. Phon.
4
(4
), 327
–340
.17.
Gerrits
, E.
, and Schouten
, M. E. H.
(2004
). “Categorical perception depends on the discrimination task
,” Percept. Psychophys.
66
(3
), 363
–376
.18.
Gierut
, J. A.
(2005
). “Phonological intervention: The how or the what?
,” in Phonological Disorders in Children: Clinical Decision Making in Assessment and Intervention
, edited by A. G.
Kamhi
and K. E.
Pollock
(Brookes
, Baltimore, MD
), pp. 201
–210
.19.
Haggard
, M.
, Ambler
, S.
, and Callow
, M.
(1970
). “Pitch as a voicing cue
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
47
(2B
), 613
–617
.20.
Hirsh
, I. J.
(1959
). “Auditory perception of temporal order
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
31
(6
), 759
–767
.21.
Hitchcock
, E. R.
, and Koenig
, L. L.
(2013
). “The effects of data reduction in determining the schedule of voicing acquisition in young children
,” J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res.
56
(1
), 441
–457
.22.
Holliday
, J. J.
, Reidy
, P. F.
, Beckman
, M. E.
, and Edwards
, J.
(2015
). “Quantifying the robustness of the English sibilant fricative contrast in children
,” J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res.
58
(3
), 622
–637
.23.
Ingvalson
, E. M.
, Lansford
, K. L.
, Fedorova
, V.
, and Fernandez
, G.
(2017
). “Cognitive factors as predictors of accented speech perception for younger and older adults
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
141
(6
), 4652
–4659
.24.
Karlsson
, F.
, Sullivan
, K. P. H.
, van Doorn
, J.
, and Czigler
, P. E.
(2003
). “Då or Tå, På or Bå — Seeing is believing!
,” in Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Phonetic Sciences
, August 3–9, Barcelona, Spain, Vol. 2
, pp. 1967
–1970
.25.
Keating
, P.
, and Buhr
, R.
(1978
). “Fundamental frequency in the speech of infants and children
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
63
(2
), 567
–571
.26.
Kessinger
, R. H.
, and Blumstein
, S. E.
(1997
). “Effects of speaking rate on voice-onset time in Thai, French, and English
,” J. Phon.
25
(2
), 143
–168
.27.
Kessinger
, R. H.
, and Blumstein
, S. E.
(1998
). “Effects of speaking rate on voice-onset time and vowel production: Some implications for perception studies
,” J. Phon.
26
(2
), 117
–128
.28.
Kewley-Port
, D.
, and Preston
, M.
(1974
). “Early apical stop production: A voice onset time analysis
,” J. Phon.
2
(3
), 195
–210
.29.
Kirby
, J. P.
, and Ladd
, D. R.
(2016
). “Effects of obstruent voicing on vowel F0: Evidence from ‘true voicing’ languages
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
140
(4
), 2400
–2411
.30.
Kubaska
, C. A.
, and Keating
, P. A.
(1981
). “Word duration in early child speech
,” J. Speech Hear. Res.
24
(4
), 615
–621
.31.
Kuhl
, P. K.
, and Miller
, J. D.
(1978
). “Speech perception by the chinchilla: Identification functions for synthetic VOT stimuli
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
63
(3
), 905
–917
.32.
Lee
, S.
, Potamianos
, A.
, and Narayanan
, S.
(1999
). “Acoustics of children's speech: Developmental changes of temporal and spectral parameters
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
105
, 1455
–1468
.33.
Lehiste
, I.
(1972
). “The timing of utterances and linguistic boundaries
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
51
(6B
), 2018
–2024
.34.
Li
, F.
(2008
). “The phonetic development of voiceless sibilant fricatives in English, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese
,” Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University
, Columbus, OH
.35.
Li
, F.
, Edwards
, J.
, and Beckman
, M. E.
(2009
). “Contrast and covert contrast: The phonetic development of voiceless sibilant fricatives in English and Japanese toddlers
,” J. Phon.
37
(1
), 111
–124
.36.
Liberman
, A. M.
, Cooper
, F. S.
, Shankweiler
, D. P.
, and Studdert-Kennedy
, M.
(1967
). “Perception of the speech code
,” Psych. Rev.
74
(6
), 431
–461
.37.
Liberman
, A. M.
, Harris
, K. S.
, Eimas
, P. D.
, Lisker
, L.
, and Bastian
, J.
(1961
). “An effect of learning on speech perception: The discrimination of durations of silence with and without phonemic significance
,” Lang. Speech
4
(4
), 175
–195
.38.
Liberman
, A. M.
, Harris
, K. S.
, Hoffman
, H. S.
, and Griffith
, B. C.
(1957
). “The discrimination of speech sounds within and across phoneme boundaries
,” J. Exp. Psychol.
54
(5
), 358
–368
.39.
Lisker
, L.
(1975
). “Is it VOT or a first‐formant transition detector?
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
57
(6
), 1547
–1551
.40.
Lisker
, L.
, and Abramson
, A. S.
(1964
). “A cross-language study of voicing in initial stops: Acoustical measurements
,” Word
20
(3
), 384
–422
.41.
Lisker
, L.
, and Abramson
, A. S.
(1967a
). “Some effects of context on voice onset time in English stops
,” Lang. Speech
10
(1
), 1
–28
.42.
Lisker
, L.
, and Abramson
, A. S.
(1967b
). “The voicing dimension: Some experiments in comparative phonetics
,” in Proceedings of the 6th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences
, Prague, Czech Republic, September 7–13, pp. 563
–567
.43.
Lisker
, L.
, and Abramson
, A. S.
(1970
). “The voicing dimension: Some experiments in comparative phonetics
,” in Proceedings of the 6th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Prague 1967
, edited by B.
Hála
, M. Romportl
, and P. Janota
(Academia Publishing House Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences
, Prague
), pp. 563
–567
.44.
Lisker
, L.
, Liberman
, A. M.
, Erickson
, D. M.
, Dechovitz
, D.
, and Mandler
, R.
(1977
). “On pushing the voice-onset-time (VOT) boundary about
,” Lang. Speech
20
(3
), 209
–216
.45.
Löfqvist
, A.
, Baer
, T.
, McGarr
, N. S.
, and Story
, R. S.
(1989
). “The cricothyroid muscle in voicing control
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
85
, 1314
–1321
.46.
Macken
, M. A.
, and Barton
, D.
(1980
). “The acquisition of the voicing contrast in English: A study of voice onset time in word initial stop consonants
,” J. Child Lang.
7
, 41
–74
.47.
Maxwell
, E. M.
, and Weismer
, G.
(1982
). “The contribution of phonological, acoustic, and perceptual techniques to the characterization of a misarticulating child's voice contrast for stops
,” Appl. Psycholing.
3
(1
), 29
–43
.48.
Maye
, J.
, and Gerken
, L.
(1999
). “Learning phonemes without minimal pairs
,” in Proceedings of the 24th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development
, November, Boston, MA, Vol. 2
, pp. 522
–533
.49.
Miller
, J. L.
, Green
, K. P.
, and Reeves
, A.
(1986
). “Speaking rate and segments: A look at the relation between speech production and speech perception for the voicing contrast
,” Phonetica
43
(1
), 106
–115
.50.
Miller
, J. L.
, O'Rourke
, T. B.
, and Volaitis
, L. E.
(1997
). “The internal structure of phonetic categories: Effects of speaking rate
,” Phonetica
54
(3
), 121
–137
.51.
Miller
, J. L.
, and Volaitis
, L. E.
(1989
). “Effect of speaking rate on the perceptual structure of a phonetic category
,” Percept. Psychophys.
46
(6
), 505
–512
.52.
Munson
, B.
, Edwards
, J.
, Schellinger
, S. K.
, Beckman
, M. E.
, and Meyer
, M. K.
(2010
). “Deconstructing phonetic transcription: Covert contrast, perceptual bias, and an extraterrestrial view of Vox Humana
,” Clin. Linguist. Phon.
24
(4
), 245
–260
.53.
Munson
, B.
, Johnson
, J. M.
, and Edwards
, J.
(2012
). “The role of clinical experience in speech-language pathologists' perception of subphonemic detail in children's speech
,” Am. J. Speech Lang. Pathol.
21
(2
), 124
–139
.54.
Nakai
, S.
, and Scobbie
, J. M.
(2016
). “The VOT category boundary in word-initial stops: Counter-evidence against rate normalization in English spontaneous speech
,” Lab. Phon.
7
(1
), 13
.55.
Nittrouer
, S.
, and Studdert-Kennedy
, M.
(1987
). “The role of coarticulatory effects in the perception of fricatives by children and adults
,” J. Speech Hear. Res.
30
, 319
–329
.56.
Pegg
, J. E.
, and Werker
, J. F.
(1997
). “Adult and infant perception of two English phones
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
102
(6
), 3742
–3753
.57.
Pisoni
, D. B.
, Aslin
, R. N.
, Perey
, A. J.
, and Hennessy
, B. L.
(1982
). “Some effects of laboratory training on identification and discrimination of voicing contrasts in stop consonants
,” J. Exp. Psychol. Hum. Percept. Perform.
8
(2
), 297
–314
.58.
Pisoni
, D. B.
, and Lazarus
, J. H.
(1974
). “Categorical and noncategorical modes of speech perception along the voicing continuum
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
55
(2
), 328
–333
.59.
Pisoni
, D. B.
, and Tash
, J.
(1974
). “Reaction times to comparisons within and across phonetic categories
,” Percept. Psychophys.
15
(2
), 285
–290
.60.
Preston
, M. S.
, Yeni-Komshian
, G.
, Stark
, R. E.
, and Port
, D. K.
(1968
). “Developmental studies of voicing in stops
,” Haskins Lab. Status Rep.
13/14
, 181
–184
.61.
Romberg
, A. R.
, and Saffran
, J. R.
(2010
). “Statistical learning and language acquisition
,” Wiley Interdisciplinary Rev. Cogn. Sci.
1
(6
), 906
–914
.62.
Sawashima
, M.
, Hirose
, H.
, Hibi
, S.
, Yoshioka
, H.
, Kawase
, N.
, and Yamada
, M.
(1981
). “Measurements of the vocal fold length by use of stereoendoscope—A preliminary study
,” Annu. Bull. Res. Inst. Logoped. Phoniatr.
15
, 9
–16
.63.
Schellinger
, S. K.
, Munson
, B.
, and Edwards
, J.
(2017
). “Gradient perception of children's productions of /s/ and /θ/: A comparative study of rating methods
,” Clin. Linguist. Phon.
31
(1
), 80
–103
.64.
Smith
, B. L.
(1978
). “Temporal aspects of English speech production: A developmental perspective
,” J. Phon.
6
(1
), 37
–67
.65.
Smith
, B. L.
, Kenney
, M. K.
, and Hussain
, S.
(1996
). “A longitudinal investigation of duration and temporal variability in children's speech production
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
99
(4
), 2344
–2349
.66.
Stevens
, K. N.
, and Klatt
, D. H.
(1974
). “The role of formant transitions in the voiced-voiceless distinction for stops
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
55
(3
), 653
–659
.67.
Soli
, S. D.
(1983
). “The role of spectral cues in discrimination of voice onset time differences
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
73
(6
), 2150
–2165
.68.
Sundara
, M.
(2005
). “Acoustic-phonetics of coronal stops: A cross-language study of Canadian English and Canadian French
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
118
(2
), 1026
–1037
.69.
Tyler
, A. A.
, Edwards
, M. L.
, and Saxman
, J. H.
(1990
). “Acoustic validation of phonological knowledge and its relationship to treatment
,” J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res.
55
(2
), 251
–261
.70.
Wayland
, S. C.
, Miller
, J. L.
, and Volaitis
, L. E.
(1994
). “The influence of sentential speaking rate on the internal structure of phonetic categories
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
95
(5
), 2694
–2701
.71.
Whalen
, D. H.
, Abramson
, A. S.
, Lisker
, L.
, and Mody
, M.
(1993
). “F0 gives voicing information even with unambiguous voice onset times
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
93
(4
), 2152
–2159
.72.
Xie
, X.
, and Fowler
, C. A.
(2013
). “Listening with a foreign-accent: The interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit in Mandarin speakers of English
,” J. Phon.
41
(5
), 369
–378
.73.
Zlatin
, M. A.
(1974
). “Voicing contrast: Perceptual and productive voice onset time characteristics of adults
,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am.
56
(3
), 981
–994
.74.
Zlatin
, M. A.
, and Koenigsknecht
, R. A.
(1975
). “Development of the voicing contrast: Perception of stop consonants
,” J. Speech Hear. Res.
18
, 541
–553
.© 2021 Acoustical Society of America.
2021
Acoustical Society of America
You do not currently have access to this content.
