REDUNDANT ASPIRATION IN GERMAN IS PRIMARILY CONTROLLED BY CLOSURE DURATION

Based on a transillumination study of a native speaker of German, various hypotheses were evaluated that can explain previous findings for English and German that place-dependent aspiration in /p, t, k/ is closely associated with the interval between stop release and peak glottal opening. It was found that the primary means by which long aspiration and late peak glottal opening relative to release are achieved is by shortening closure duration. The same question was addressed with respect to increased aspiration duration that is due to the presence and identity of a following sonorant consonant. Closure duration again turned out to be of primary importance, though this time the overall situation was less systematic, partially due to an uncertainty about the glottal patterns associated with the realization of German /r/ as an uvular fricative.