Abstract:

Prior research has suggested that speakers vary in the precise muscle movements used to make phonemic distinctions [K. Johnson, P. Ladefoged, and M. Lindau, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 94, 701--714 (1993)]. There has also been evidence that individuals differ slightly in their perception of speech [V. Hazan and S. Rosen, Percept. Psychophys. 49, 187--200 (1991)]. One possibility is that these sources of variability are due to the same underlying cause. In support of such a notion, data will be presented briefly demonstrating the range of acoustic-phonetic variability across individuals in both production and perception independently. Following this, evidence will be provided suggesting that these sources of variability are related. More specifically, individuals' perceptual prototypes in both a VOT series and a stop place series were correlated with acoustic-phonetic measurements on their own productions. This suggests that differences between individuals' perception are related to the idiosyncrasies of their production. These results fit well with theories of language acquisition emphasizing the role of individual experience. Since the voice that one has the most experience with and which one hears most often is one's own, an individual's own productions are likely to have an especially important role in the formation of perceptual expectations.