INDICES TEMPORELS SEGMENTAUX ET SOUS-SEGMENTAUX DANS LA PRODUCTION DES CONSONNES OCCLUSIVES DU FRANCAIS

Abstract
It is well known that segmental duration can be considered as a major acoustic cue. Specific durations of sounds are often explained as the output of articulatory and/or aero-dynamic constraints. In this paper, it is demonstrated that segmental duration plays a role in the acoustic discrimination of speech sounds for the voiced/unvoiced feature and place of articulation. The cues can be extracted directly from the duration of the segments and/or in acoustical events such as burst or occlusion phase. A statistical analysis supports our acoustical analysis. Aero-dynamic, phonological and perceptual explanations of the results are proposed.