Voice onset time (VOT) in Canadian French and English: Monolingual and bilingual adults

This study focused on the contrasts produced by early bilingual speakers (n=6) across their two languages in comparison with monolingual speakers (Canadian English (CE), n=5; Canadian French (CF), n=6). VOT production was measured in monosyllabic CE and CF words that began with one of four stop consonants, /p, b, t, d/ followed by one of three vowels. A total of 14–18 words for each of the four stop consonants for each language was elicited with a total number 1700 acoustically analyzed productions. The participants were tested individually in quiet rooms using a single target language throughout the session. As expected, the monolingual speakers produced a two-way contrast (statistically significant: p<0.05): for CE speakers, short-lag VOT versus long-lag VOT; for CF speakers, lead VOT versus short-lag VOT. Rather than producing a two-way contrast (e.g., lead VOT versus lag VOT) or a three-way contrast (e.g., lead VOT versus short-lag VOT versus long-lag VOT), the bilingual speakers produced a four-way contrast (statistically significant: p<0.05): long lead VOT (CF /b, d/), short lead VOT (CE /b, d/), short-lag VOT (CF /p, t/) and long-lag VOT (CE /p,t/). These results suggest that bilinguals are maintaining phonetic contrasts both within and across their two languages.