{A perceptual experiment testing the Italian /ʎ/ -/j/ contrast}

Due to the articulatory proximity, Italian /ʎ/ and /j/ are confused by some speakers. The neutralisation of the /ʎ/-/j/ contrast lets prevail [j]-like sounds; /lj/ and /llj/ are sometime realised with a [ʎ]-like sounds. Two classification tasks were proposed to a sample of 113 native Italian listeners to assess the incidence of the duration factor in distinguishing intervocalic segments [ʎ], [j] and [lj], manipulating the duration of the sounds within the same contexts. It emerged that participants were always able to tell apart [lj]-like stimuli, while they showed more variation in the classification of /ʎ/ and /j/ categories. The duration plays a significant role in the identification of /ʎ/ and /j/: with less than 140-160 ms, the perceived stimulus originated from a [ʎ]-sound is generally classified as /j/, whereas stimuli with increasing durations of an original [j]-sound need an upper threshold (~200 ms) to be mostly attributed to /ʎ/.