'BRAT ADAMA' VS 'BRATA DAMA': TEMPORAL PHONETIC PARAMETERS SIGNALLING WORD BOUNDARIES IN POLISH

The paper presents the results of an acoustic analysis of temporal phonetic parameters cueing word boundaries in Polish. Durational variability has been well documented for different languages. Word-final lengthening, word-initial lengthening, and polysyllabic shortening, all predict that segments neighbouring a word boundary will differ in their durations however they differ in the direction such shortening or lengthening should take. In the present study, we obtained two Polish sequences 'brat Adama' versus 'brata dama' from 24 native speakers of Polish. The obtained results point to a complicated pattern of temporal variability caused by the boundary location in Polish.