Spirantization of /p t k/ in Sienese Italian and so-called semi-fricatives

This paper presents the results of a first acoustic phonetic investigation into voiceless spirantization in the variety of Tuscan Italian spoken in Siena. Based on spontaneous speech data (6 speakers), we focus upon occurrences of a phonetic variant, previously referred to as a 鄂semi-fricative 鈂. Intermediate between a voiceless stop and a voiceless fricative, it is reported to occur in Pisan (e.g. [1], [2]) but not Florentine Italian (e.g. [3]).