Effect of vowel context on the recognition of initial consonants in Kannada

Abstract

The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of vowel context on the recognition of Kannada consonants in quiet for young adults. Subjects and Methods: A total of 17 young adults with normal hearing in both ears participated in the study. The stimuli included consonant-vowel syllables, spoken by 12 native speakers of Kannada. Consonant recognition task was carried out as a closed-set (fourteen-alternative forced-choice). Results: The present study showed an effect of vowel context on the perception of consonants. Maximum consonant recognition score was obtained in the/o/vowel context, followed by the/a/and/u/vowel contexts, and then the/e/context. Poorest consonant recognition score was obtained in the vowel context/i/. Conclusions: Vowel context has an effect on the recognition of Kannada consonants, and the vowel effect was unique for Kannada consonants.