Oral Cavity Enlargement in Retroflex Stops

It is generally recognized that front-articulated stops are more compatible with voicing than back- articulated stops because the larger oral volume and compliance of front stops allows for longer trans-glottal airflow. Phonological patterns suggest that retroflex stops may be an exception to this pattern and may be more compatible with voicing than their dental/alveolar counterparts. An experiment was conducted in which an artificial leak was created in three speakers, and the effect of the abrupt closure of this leak on voicing was measured for (b d ). The results of this