Perceptual Centers (P-centers) refer to that phenomenon in a word that must be regularly spaced in time with respect to other P-centers in a sequence of words in order for the sequence to sound isochronous (Morton, Marcus, and Frankish, 1976). The P-centers of monosyllables have been found to be affected by the phonetic makeup of the syllable itself (Marcus, 1981; Fowler and Tassinary, 1981; Cooper, Whalen, and Fowler, 1986). In general, the longer a particular segment within a syllable (initial consonant, vowel, or final consonant), the later the syllable's P-center. This P-center is equidistant from the surrounding P-centers of other words. For example, if words are set in time to a metronome, their P-centers would align with the metronome beat since the beats are equidistant from each other. This thesis examines what determines the P-center locations within disyllabic English words (American dialect). Consonant lengths and stress patterns (foot type) are evaluated for their effects on the words' P-centers in a series of six production experiments. The results indicate that, like monosyllables, consonant length has a major effect on the location of disyllabic words' P-centers. And, initial consonants have a greater effect on their words' P-centers than either medial or final consonants. This finding supports Morishima's (1994) Onset-Tail model that was developed for Japanese disyllables. In addition to demonstrating the consonant length P-center effect in English disyllables, this thesis will also show that the disyllable's foot type affects its P-center. The interword intervals preceding trochees will be shown to be longer than those preceding iambs (a P-center effect). Therefore, the overall results of this thesis suggest that the P-centers of disyllables are affected by both their prosodic structure and their individual consonant lengths. The implications of this joint effect on words' P-centers will then be considered in light of the isochrony, timing, and slot literatures.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/282415 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Perez, Patricia Elizabeth, 1967- |
| Contributors | Hammond, Michael T. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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