Resumen de Development of voice onset time in Arabic

Feda Al-Tamimi, Rama Tarawneh, Peter Howell

• The research investigated development of voice onset time (VOT) contrasts in children who spoke Jordanian Arabic. The factors investigated were: (1) the age at which VOT contrast is acquired; and (2) the role of place of articulation and emphasis on VOT development. One hundred and twenty children (60 males, 60 females; age range 2;0–7;11) produced word-initial plosives. Linear Mixed Model (LMM), Bonferroni post hoc and t test analyses were conducted on the data. Results revealed that age, place of articulation, and emphasis had significant effects on VOT. In addition, Arabic appeared to follow the general trend of VOT development reported for other voicing languages.