On Cross-linguistic Natural Speech of English Initial Voiceless Stops

Abstract

Detailed phonological features in cross-linguistic study on foreign accented natural speech is important in voice identification, especially in international accented speech identification, global foreign accented identification (GFA). The voice onset time (VOT) of stop consonants are usually measured and distinguished in the speaker’s language background. In this study, we take the English initial voiceless stops production of /p,t,k/ by Mandarin Chinese, American English, Dutch, and Japanese speakers. We explore the role indication of VOT in accent measurement and try to investigate the correlation between GFA and VOT. Our results suggest that non-native speakers produced Englishwith higher or lower VOT values than their equivalents in speakers’ native languages to approach the target language norm in varying degrees; particularly, Chinese speakers produced the most similar VOT to the target language norm; and interestingly there is a significant correlation between the GFA and VOT.