Duration and F0 as perceptual cues to Japanese vowel quantity

Vowel duration and local fundamental frequency changes are investigated as acoustical cues to vowel quantity identification by Japanese listeners. To examine the role of these factors, a perception experiment was carried out. The results indicate that, even though vowel duration serves as a dominant perceptual cue, when vowel quantity cannot be adequately cued by vowel duration alone, the F0 information within the vowel can be used to identify vowel quantity in Japanese.