Abstract

Acoustic properties of diphthongs in American English in a /bV/ context were investigated as a function of the age of child speakers (5–18 years, 450 subjects). Duration and the average amount of spectral change per frame were computed as a measure of the contrast between initial and final steady states, and the center position of the spectral transition (normalized for vowel length) was estimated as a measure of timing between the two steady‐state portions. Results indicate that duration and temporal variability are significantly larger for children below age 10. The spectral change per frame was larger for younger children, suggesting more spectral contrast between diphthong steady states. Interestingly, the normalized center position of the glide occurs at a position relatively closer to the final portion of diphthongs for /ay/ for younger children; an opposite tendency was observed in the case of /ow/, implying that …

Date

2004

Authors

Sungbok Lee, Shrikanth Narayanan, Dani Byrd

Journal

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

Volume

115

Issue

5_Supplement

Pages

2628-2628

Publisher

Acoustical Society of America