Positional Neutralization - Linguistics - University of California ...

aloud from a randomized list. Sentences were uncovered one at a time by the author to
insert a short pause after each sentence. Audio recordings of these sessions were digitized
at 22.5 KHz., and vowel durations were measured from spectrograms and waveforms
created using the Praat 3.9.5 speech analysis software (Copyright 1992-2000 by Paul
Boersma and David Weenink).
4.5.1.2. Results
Mean vowel durations for both classes of stimuli are shown for each speaker in
(44). T-tests revealed no significant differences between the vowels in initial and non-
initial syllables. Additionally, no lengthening of the target vowels was observed in
higher-level prosodic constituents either. In other words, the results of this experiment are
in agreement with those of previous investigations: English vowels in initial syllables are
not subject to domain-initial strengthening. Nothing new emerges from this experiment.
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