Schedule 76. StuTS

Potential changes in plosive VOT during the menstrual cycle
Lotta Hilliger, Sophie Ziemer, Adrian P. Simpson, Melanie Weirich
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Several studies have analysed potential gender-specific differences in voice onset time
(VOT) in onset plosives in different varieties of English. Results have been variable, finding
differences in some cases (Swartz 1992, Karlsson & Zetterholm 2004, Romeo et al. 2013),
but not in others (Morris et al. 2008, McCrea 2004, Whiteside et al. 2004). Where
significant differences have been found, it is female speakers who have longer VOT. It has
been suggested that at least one reason for the observed variability is the failure to
consider differences in laryngeal behaviour brought about by hormonal changes during the
menstrual cycle (Whiteside et al. 2004, Wadnerkar et al. 2006).
The present study examines possible menstrual cycle-related differences in the VOT of
onset /p/ and /k/ in a sample of 30 young (18-25 year-olds) German-speaking women,
part of a larger study of ca. 80 women from three age groups (DFG, WE5757/4). Female
subjects were recruited who reported having a regular cycle and not taking any hormonal
contraception. They were recorded during the fertile and luteal phases of the menstrual
cycle. Subjects recorded short samples of read and spontaneous speech. Saliva samples
were collected for hormonal analysis (progesterone, estradiol, testosterone) during each
recording session.
VOT was measured in fortis labial and dorsal plosives in the verb forms gepachtet
("leased") and gekauft ("bought") from two read sentences from the luteal and fertile
phases. Average utterance durations were used to normalise individual VOT durations to
exclude any tempo differences.
The boxplot in Figure 1 shows normalised VOT plotted as a function of plosive and phase
in the cycle. As we can clearly see, VOT varies significantly as a function of place of
articulation (Estimate= -21.533, SD = 2.711 p < .001) but values do not vary as a function
of recording time during the cycle.
The results of this study, to our knowledge the first of its kind for German-speaking
subjects, do not replicate those found for English-speaking subjects (Whiteside et al. 2004,
Wadnerkar et al. 2006). However, in contrast to the English studies, we have yet to
compare the size of the VOT contrast between fortis and lenis plosives, as well as making
a comparison with male controls, as was done in the English studies. Although two cycle
phases were considered, it will be interesting to see whether the hormone values (not yet
available) are able to reveal a more differentiated picture.

Info

Day: 2024-11-22
Start time: 14:15
Duration: 00:15
Room: 00A03 CNMS
Track: Phonetics and Phonology
Language: de

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