Order effect of acoustic segments of VC and CV syllables on stop and vowel identification.

The purpose of this study was to determine the importance of the vocalic transition relative to other acoustic cues in the perception of both CV and VC syllables. Subjects identified stops, /p, t, k, b, d, g/ and vowels, /i, u, 3/ from the aperiodic, aperiodic + vocalic transition, vocalic transition, and vocalic transition + vowel segments edited from VC and CV syllables. The major findings were as follows: (1) no significant difference was found in consonant identification scores between aperiodic, aperiodic + vocalic transition, and vocalic transition segments in CV syllables compared to those in VC syllables; (2) consonant identifications from vocalic transition + vowel segments in VC syllables were significantly greater than those from vocalic transition + vowel segments in CV syllables; (3) no significant difference was found in vowel identification scores between aperiodic + vocalic transition, vocalic transition + vowel, and vocalic transition segments in CV syllables compared to those in VC syllables; and (4) vowel identifications from aperiodic segments were significantly greater in CV syllables than in VC syllables. The results revealed a significant right-to-left perceptual advantage for both vowels and consonants. The findings for consonant identification emphasize the importance of the temporal order relationship between the vocalic transition and steady-state vowels in the perceptual process.