Production of Aspiration in English Voiceless Stops in Terms of Place of Articulation

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate whether place of articulation (POA) has an influence on the production of aspiration in English voiceless stops. A production experiment was conducted with native speakers of English and Korean. The participants were required to read a set of stimuli, which contained English voiceless stops in the word-initial position and in the position immediately following /s/. The VOT values in their production were measured. The results showed that in both of the groups, which were classified according to the subjects native language, dorsal stops were the highest in VOT values. This is ascribed to the language-universal aerodynamic reason, which is related to the nature of the oral cavity.