May 20 2018, 14:14

It’s fascinating how precisely our speech apparatus works and how the brain recognizes sounds. Take, for example, the syllables “па” and “ба.”

The difference between “па” and “ба” is merely in the timing of the sound delay before the vowel: if the delay is longer, we hear “п”, if shorter – “б”. Place your hand on your throat near the vocal cords: when saying “ба,” the lips part simultaneously with the vibration of the cords; when saying “па,” the vibration is delayed.

The graph shows that the difference is generated in the region of 20-30 ms delay