Abstract
The term ‘aspiration’ is traditionally associated with the production of a voiceless stop. In aspirate consonants a certain amount of air passes through the glottis at the moment of its release; its acoustic cue is longer VOT. In consonants classified as pre-aspirated, the aspiration phase follows the preceding vowel and occurs before the closure (e.g. in Icelandic). Some scholars have recently found pre-aspirated stops in Sienese speech in the context of lexical gemination and of Rafforzamento Fonosintattico. By means of acoustical analysis of data relative to Tuscan we will discuss the real occurrence of prespiration in Italian varieties and its phonological status.
