Aoustical and perceptual characteristics of Mandarin consonants produced with an electrolarynx

•Consonant confusion in mandarin EL speech is related to the manner of articulation rather than to the place of articulation.•Consonant confusion in mandarin EL speech has three patterns: “voiced-for-voiceless” confusion, “unaspirated-for-aspirated” confusion and “perceptual-omission” confusion.•“Unaspirated-for-aspirated” confusion is majorly attributed to shortened voice onset time of aspirated consonants.•Both “voiced-for-voiceless” confusion and “perceptual-omission” confusion are mainly attributed to low speech intensity and continuous pulsing of EL device.