Preaspiration in the Nordic Languages: Synchronic and Diachronic ...

Figure 4–3. An example of a sequence in which there is (i) minimal separation
between modal voice offset and voice offset and (ii) minimal separation
between modal voice onset and voice onset. (Subj. MP: [.går m]otorbåte[n
rakt…] ‘…the speedboat goes straight…’)
Occlusion duration is measured as the interval between stop closure
and stop release (see Figure 4–1). In the following discussion, the terms
occlusion duration and stop duration are used interchangeably to indicate
the duration of the stop’s closure phase. Vowel duration is defined as the
interval between vowel onset (established with traditional criteria) and
modal voice offset. Thus for example, in Figure 4–1, vowel duration
does not extend from vowel onset to voice offset, but only to modal
voice offset.
4.1.3 A note on the graphical presentation of
durational data
The durational analysis presented in the following sections centres
on the ratio of preaspiration (Pr) to the combined duration of vowel and
preaspiration (VPr), i.e. the Pr/VPr ratio. Simply put, this ratio indicates
how much of the vowel + preaspiration interval is taken up by preaspiration.
This ratio has been found to be central in the perception of preaspiration
in Icelandic (Pind 1993, 1995, 1998; see further discussion of
Pind’s findings in section 3.2.2). The graphs presenting durational data in
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