Models for the production and acoustics of stop consonants

Abstract Stop consonants are produced by forming a closure in the vocal tract, building up pressure in the mouth behind this closure, and releasing the closure. Models of the mechanical, aerodynamic, and acoustic events in the vicinity of the stop consonant are described, and examples of calculations of the airflow and of various components of the radiated sound are given. At the consonantal release, these components of the sound include an initial transient, a burst of frication noise, and an interval in which there is a sound source at the glottis and transitions in the formants. The models predict the absolute levels of these components for different places of articulation for the consonants.