Use of second formant transition and relative amplitude cues in labeling nasal place of articulation

Previous studies have shown that manipulation of the amplitude of a particular frequency region of the consonantal portion of a syllable relative to the amplitude of the same frequency region in an adjacent vowel influences the perception of place of articulation. This manipulation has been called the relative amplitude cue. The earlier studies examined the effect of the relative amplitude manipulation upon labeling place of articulation for fricatives and stop consonants. This current study looked at the influences of this manipulation upon labeling place of articulation for the /m/ - /n/ nasal distinction. Twenty-five listeners with normal hearing labeled nasal place of articulation for the synthetic syllables. Results show an influence of both relative amplitude and formant transition manipulation upon labeling behavior. These results add further evidence to the importance of acoustic boundaries in processing consonant place of articulation.