A first glance at the role of length in production and perception of diphthongs before Dutch coda l

Botma, Sebregts & Smakman (2008, 2010, 2012) have shown that in Dutch there is variation in the neutralization of tense and lax vowels before coda l. In this study, we will extend the scope of their investigation by examining the effect of coda l on preceding diphthongs. A pilot production experiment shows that diphthongs can be completely neutralized in this context and may become monophthongs. A perception experiment reveals that length serves as an important cue for listeners in the identification of vowels followed by dark l.