Cross-linguistic timing contrast in geminates: A rate-independent perspective

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In this study, we aim to gain insights into whether there exists an invariant durational property which can uniquely distinguish between singletons and geminates, both across languages and across speech rates. We collected acoustic data from four typologically distinct languages (Tashlhiyt, Japanese, Italian and Finnish) and so far, recorded one speaker from each language producing 320 times /ima/ and 320 times /imma/ within a carrier phrase, across a wide range of speech rates (20 different steps). Several temporal parameters as well as relational measures that are generallyassociated with gemination distinction were analyzed. Results show that in none of the four languages absolute consonant duration can reliably distinguish singletons and geminates across different speech rates. However, the ratio of consonant to word duration across speech rates provides a rate-invariant boundary that can accurately distinguish the two phonemes in the four languages. These results provide support for previous work, and suggest that a cross-linguistic rate-independent attribute of gemination is not absolute but relational.