Abstract
This study investigates infant preferences for the acoustic properties of vowels. For this purpose F0 contour shape (bell or steady-state) and duration (normal or long) of the corner vowels /i/ and /u/ were manipulated in the words, 'bee', 'shoe', 'goose', and 'sheep'. Four experiments used a two-choice preference method. The results show that when the words were of normal duration, infants prefer bell-shaped over steady-state contours in Experiment 1, but when both words were of long duration in Experiment 2, they show no preference. In Experiment 3 and 4 comparing long to normal duration vowels infants show a preference for long over normal duration words but only when the contours were bell shaped. It is concluded that the shape of the vowel is more important to infant attention than increased duration.
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the Tenth Australian International Conference on Speech Science & Technology, held in Ryde, NSW, 8-10 December, 2004 |
| Publisher | Australian Speech Science and Technology Association |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| ISBN (Print) | 0958194610 |
| Publication status | Published - 2004 |
| Event | Australian International Conference on Speech Science and Technology - Duration: 1 Jan 2004 → … |
Conference
| Conference | Australian International Conference on Speech Science and Technology |
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| Period | 1/01/04 → … |
Keywords
- vowels
- infants
- speech perception in infants
- phonetics, acoustic