Subject: Stop consonant identification based on initial spectra? From: "Marvit, Peter" <PMarvit(at)SOM.UMARYLAND.EDU> Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2005 11:06:40 -0500I'm sorry to interrupt the current frenzy of pet anecdotes (in which no one has yet mentioned fish)... I'm looking for a reference that reports whether or not humans can identify stop consonants based on their initial spectra--before the formant transitions to the following vowel. Secondarily (though I suppose more fundamentally), are the initial spectra (first 10 msec or however long *before* formant transitions) invariant with respect to following vowels? Differences between voiced and unvoiced? Background: I had been well indoctrinated in the motor theory of speech perception, teaching my students the wonders of categorical perception of stop consonants despite widely varying formant transition profiles across different vowels (i.e., /di/ looks rather different than /du/ but we identify /d/ in both). A recent conference poster looking at neurophysiological spectral representation in non-human primate suggested that response to spectra of stop consonants (without the following formant transitions) was sufficient to distinguish and identify them. Alas, I did not get the relevant human reference and have been unable to find one in an informal search of my reference books and MEDLINE. Thanks in advance, Peter : Peter Marvit, PhD <pmarvit(at)som.umaryland.edu> : : Dept. Anatomy and Neurobiology University of Maryland Medical School: : 20 Penn Street, HSF II, Room S251 Baltimore, MD 21201 : : phone 410-706-1272 http://www.theearlab.org fax 410-706-2512 :