Effects of phonetic distance on recognition of synthetic sentences

Phonetic replacements for the syllable initial consonants and clusters of words in sentences were made according to the scale of phonetic distance devised by Black (Perceptual Differences Between Consonants. Columbus: The Ohio State University, 1974). The impact of such replacements upon the intelligibility of synthetically produced sentences was shown to be substantial. The regression of intelligibility over distance was strong, providing support for the construct validity of Black's scaling.