Abstract:

In the present study, previous work on the relative amplitude and presentation level was extended to include the voiceless fricative /s/--/(sh)/ contrast. Synthetic CV stimuli were used, in which format transitions, frication duration, and relative amplitude were manipulated. For the relative amplitude manipulation, the amplitude of friction relative to vowel onset in the F3 frequency range was varied across a 20-dB range. Frication duration was varied from 140--50 ms. Stimuli were presented at 90 dB SPL. Eight listeners with normal hearing and three listeners with moderate sensorineural hearing loss participated in the experiment. Results showed that listeners with sensorineural hearing loss gave significantly more /s/ responses for lower relative amplitude values. Results from this study and previous studies [Hedrick et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 98, 1292--1303 (1995); M. S. Hedrick and W. Jesteadt, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 100, 3398--3407 (1996)] suggest that perception of acoustic cues for consonants by listeners with sensorineural hearing loss may differ from that of listeners with normal hearing, even when the cues are audible.