Changes in segmental timing in slow and fast metronome-synchronized speech

Temporal characteristics of individual segments are affected by various global and local factors, such as tempo, syllable structure or position of a segment within the word. This has been shown for many languages, but since the general trends may be language specific, the present study investigates such effects for Czech. The material included 28 natural phonotactically complex words spoken by 24 subjects in synchrony with metronome beats at two different tempi. The lexical units were carefully selected with regard to their phonological structure. The results demonstrate interactions of tempo with the effects of final lengthening, segment type and onset complexity, suggesting non-linearity in the temporal changes.