Phonetic Neutralization: The Case of Persian Final Devoicing

This paper aims to investigate the degree of word-final devoicing in Persian (Farsi). 9 word pairs were chosen with each word consisting of one syllable. Each word has the structure CVC, and in every pair only the phoneme for final C changes in underlying voicing and the initial CV remains unchanged. Pairs were chosen in a way to include all Persian voiced and voiceless plosives: /p , b/, /t , d/ , /k , g/, and also all three Persian long vowels: / i: / , / u: / , / ?: /. Words were pronounced by 4 Persian native speakers, 2 males and 2 females, and were recorded using Praat software. Acoustic analysis focused on different measures, like: F0, F1, F2, F3, COG, VOT and duration. Results showed the absence of complete neutralization of underlying voice in this environment in Persian.