Multiple Cues for the Singleton-Geminate Contrast in Lebanese Arabic: Acoustic Investigation of Stops and Fricatives

This paper investigates the role of temporal and non-temporal cues in the distinction between singleton and geminate medial consonants in Lebanese Arabic. Twenty male and female speakers were recorded producing a word-list with medial singleton and geminate voiced and voiceless stops and fricatives. Vowels preceding and following the medial consonant were /a/ or /aː/. A range of acoustic measures were applied on V(V)1, C(C)2 and V2 including: absolute and relative durations (temporal); several NormalisedIntensity and f0 measures; C(C)2 shape of spectrum and voicing patterns (non-temporal). Statistical analyses and classification rates were used to assess the contribution of each acoustic cue to the singleton-geminate contrast. Although temporal cues seem to play a major role in the singletongeminate distinction, non-temporal cues had a considerable contribution (with mixed effect sizes). Our results confirm that the underlying contrast for gemination in Lebanese Arabic is temporal with Tense/Lax distinction as a secondary feature.