Relative Timing and Voicing in Arabic Stops
Evidence from the Closure-to-Vowel Ratio
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24218328 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nief AL-Gamdi (University of Bisha) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Pages | 206 |
| Publication date | 2026-09-30 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Languages (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2226-471X • E-ISSN: 2226-471X |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/languages11100206 |
| OpenAlex | W7214943176 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 32 |
This study investigates the closure-to-vowel ratio (CVR) as a primary, rate-normalized temporal cue to voicing in Arabic stops, within the framework of the Hyper–Hypo theory of speech adaptation and Articulatory Phonology. A sample of 30 Arabic speakers of the Saudi dialect was selected to produce voiced and voiceless stops at normal and fast speech rates. The words considered for analysis were disyllabic and analyzed acoustically to measure the stop-closure duration and the duration of the following vowel. The speech rate, place of articulation, and effects of voicing were analyzed via Linear mixed-effects models. Results showed a strong main effect of voicing, with voiced stops exhibiting significantly lower CVR values than voiceless stops. Across places of articulation, the voicing contrast was identical. The CVR was a fixed, rate-robust temporal mark of distinction of voicing in Saudi Arabic stops. Consistent timing between oral closure and the following vowel in utterers’ speech was observed even in cases of reduced articulation, supporting the notion of adaptive speech production and coordinated gestures. Overall, the study highlights the importance of relational timing in shaping phonological contrast. In the realm of phonetic research, voicing contrast in stops is better conceptualized as a matter of relative temporal mechanism rather than absolute durational differences. Several limitations leave room for future research.
articulatory coordination · articulatory phonology · relative timing · Saudi Arabic · speech adaptation · speech rate · voicing contrast · vowel duration · Language, Linguistics, Cultural Analysis · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Voice and Speech Disorders
Production of Speech
Speech Production and Speech Modelling
On Vowel Duration in English
Vowel Length Variation as a Function of the Voicing of the Consonant Environment
Articulatory gestures as phonological units
Voice onset time in the Emirati Arabic dialect
The Phonology And Morphology Of Arabic
Laryngeal realism and the voicing contrast in Khuzestani Arabic stops
Effects of Gender and Age on Voice Onset Time in Rural Jordanian Arabic
On the naturalness of stop consonant voicing
Comparing stress, lexical focus, and segmental focus
Cross-Regional Patterns of Obstruent Voicing and Gemination
Rate effects on Swedish VOT
A study of voicing in Lebanese Arabic
Effects of speaking rate on voice-onset time in Thai, French, and English
Vowel duration and closure duration in voiced and unvoiced stops
| Highly cited | No |
|---|