Description:
<jats:p>The hypothesis of focusing triggered by energy variations, and the role of stationary formant patterns are explored in the recognition of Spanish /β, δ, γ/. The stimuli consisted of VCVCVCV sequences where the overall amplitude contour and/or the F1 contour were flattened. Listeners perceived each sequence as a long continuous vowel, when both amplitude and F1 contour remained flat. For the /a,e,o/ context, only one cue is enough to allow recognition. For the /i,u/ context, amplitude contour alone may play the role of focusing. In a second experiment, F2-F3 formants were made uniform in VCV sequences, during the duration of the sequence (exp. 2a), and only during the temporal portion corresponding to the transitions (exp.2b), smoothing their amplitudes at the boundaries to avoid the effects of frequency discontinuity with the /a/ formants. Subjects reported a clear identification as /β,δ,γ/, although in exp. 2b vowel quality increased. These experiments show both the relative amplitude as an initial detector of consonant group, and stationary formants as a possible cue for group members.</jats:p>