Hindi stop consonants: an acoustic and fiberscopic study

Fiberscopic films and audio recordings were made of two native speakers of Hindi, producing # Ci, iCi, iC # utterances where C was one of the four types of stops and affricates. The voiced unaspirated type showed voicing through the whole consonant and no ab-/adduction gesture. The other three types, in the intervocalic case, all showed an ab-/adduction gesture, but the timing and the amplitude of this gesture differed for the three types. For the voiceless unaspirated type, the gesture started at the beginning of the consonant and ended at the release, whereas for the voiced aspirated type, it started at the release and ended at the end of the consonant. For the voiceless aspirated type, it started and ended with the consonant, reaching a glottal width approximately double of the latter two types. Similar results were obtained in initial and final position. Voice onset time values and durations of oral closure are examined. Pros and cons of the terms 'voiced aspirated', 'murmured aspirated', and 'voiced phonoaspirated' are discussed. Finally a mechanism underlying stop production is suggested.