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 .