Evidence for the p-center syllable-nucleus-onset correspondence hypothesis

Abstract

The question of whether or not the vowel onset is the parameter responsible for the rhythmical alignment in timing speech utterances still remains unclear. The experiment described here supports the hypothesis of a congruence between the mental representation of the syllable-nucleus-onset and the moment of occururence or so-called p-center. Utterances consisting of phonologically identical but physically distinct syllable rhyme and different syllable initial consoniulce were presented in a synchronous tapping experiment. The results show that the vowel onset estimates the location of the tapping position and the differences between the stimuli as good as other models, suggesting a clear correspondence between p-center and vowel onset, thereby strongly supporting the hypothesis.