On the dissociation of spectral and temporal cues to the voicing distinction in initial stop consonants.

It has been claimed that a rising first‐formant (F1) transition is an important cue to the voiced–voiceless distinction for syllable‐initial, prestressed stop consonants in English. Lisker [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 57, 1547–1551 (L) (1975)] has pointed out that the acoustic manipulations suggesting a role for F1 have involved covariation of the onset frequency of F1 with the duration, and hence the frequency extent, of the F1 transition; he has argued that effects hitherto ascribed to the transition are more properly attributed to its onset. Two experiments are reported in which F1 onset frequency and F1 transition duration/extent were manipulated independently. The results confirm Lisker’s suggestion that the major effect of F1 in initial voicing contrasts is determined by its perceived frequency at the onset of voicing and show that a periodically excited F1 transition is not, per se, a positive cue to voicing. In further experiments, the relative levels and the frequencies at the onset of voicing of both F1...