Spectral differences among varieties of American English have been widely studied, typically recognizing three major regionally diagnostic vowel shift patterns [Labov, Ash, and Boberg (2006). The Atlas of North American English: Phonetics, Phonology and Sound Change (De Gruyter, Berlin)]. Durational variability across dialects, on the other hand, has received relatively little attention. This p...

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Assuming a generative principle of description for speech utterances, in particular a syllable-based phonological representation and the C/D model of phonetic implementation of uterrances, the basic question is discussed: how abstract phonetic representations as an optimal symbolic description of speech utterances should be. Several examples from a variety of languages in the world, including K...