Context effects on the perception of place of articulation

The purpose of the experiment reported here was to determine the effect of phonetic context on the perception of place of articulation. Twelve place continua consisting of C1 VC2 stimuli were synthesized where C1 represented a stimulus taken from a 13‐step voiced or voiceless place continuum and C2 represented either /b, d, g, p, t, k/. The 156 stimuli (26 C1 × 6 C2) were randomized and presented to 21 subjects whose task was to label C1. Categorical boundaries were determined for the C1 stimuli and comparisons were made within different C2 place or voice contexts. The results indicated that the perception of place of articulation in C1 systematically varied as a function of place of articulation in C2. A somewhat less systematic C1 boundary shift was observed for C2 voiced‐voice‐less comparisons. Possible mechanisms accounting for the C1‐C2 interaction, articulatory compensation or psychoacoustic effect for example, will be discussed. [Work supported by NICHD NIH‐71‐2420 and University of Connecticut Res...