

In general, voiced sounds (in languages other than English) will have a VOT which is negative. Combining coverage of the key concepts and tools within phonetics and phonology with a systematic introduction to Praat, this textbook provides a lively and engaging way in to the discipline. To run a Praat script, go to the Controlmenu in the Praat objectswindow and select New Praat script. If the start of voicing came before the stop release, the VOT is negative. Read the duration of the selection (in seconds) from the duration bar along the bottom of the Editor window.1 PRAAT (a system for doing phonetics) was developed by Paul Boersma & David Weenink at the. Select the span between these two points PRAAT is a very flexible tool to do speech analysis.

Measuring voice onset time (VOT) is very easy to do in Praat, as it’s just a duration measurement between two set points, the release of the stop and the start of voicing. Languages classify their stops largely based on voice onset time, and it’s an excellent way of proving the "voiced/voiceless" phonological distinction. Measuring this time, which can be positive (say, for the English voiceless aspirated stop ), around zero (for the English "voiced" stop /d/, or, more commonly, the voiceless unaspirated ), or negative (for fully voiced stops, where voicing starts before the stop is released, as found in most non-English languages). "Voice Onset Time" (VOT) is the time between when the stop is released and when the voicing of the following vowel begins.
