Perception of concurrent approximant-vowel syllables

Some experiments are described which explore the perception of the glides /w/ and /j/ spoken simultaneously. These cannot be spoken in isolation, like vowel sounds, but must be combined with vowels to form syllables. In previous experiments /w/ and /j/ were combined with the vowels /i/ and /a/ to form the four syllables /wi/, /wa, /ji/ and /ja/. It was found that if both the vowels and their pitches differed the consonants could be identified by some of the listeners part of the time. The effect of fundamental frequency on perception has now been explored. Each pair of syllables had different consonants and different vowels but one syllable had a pitch of 100 Hz whilst the other had a pitch of between 100 and 200 Hz. It was found that some syllables were perceived like vowels. The effects one syllable of the pair leading the other have also been systematically explored.