In perceiving connected speech, listeners parse a highly variable signal. This study investigates how listeners parse signals with a particular type of production variability, epenthetic stops. In both historical and synchronic variation a stop often appears between a nasal and an obstruent (Ohala 1995). Epenthetic stops are originally not part of the phonemic string, but arise through a mis-timing of velic closure and oral release. Epenthetic stops must be homorganic with nasal. Listeners must decide whether phonetic epenthetic stops are simply mis-timings or were phonemically present. If listeners fail to “factor out” the unintended epenthetic stops, sound change may result over time (Ohala, 1997).