Speech Timing as a Tool in Phonology

Abstract

Abstract Phonological questions of the sort ‘Is segment or feature [x] a surface-phonetic event or a property of the underlying mental representation?’ may be answered in some cases by considering the durations of the speech sounds in the word in which [x] appears. Here the status of the epenthetic stop [p] in words such as teamster [––t^himpstÉš] was clarified by measurement of the duration of the preceding vowel + nasal (VN) sequence: a shortened VN implies the [p] is underlying; a long VN implies that it is a surface-phonetic event.