TY - JOUR
T1 - The impact of phonotactic features on novel tone discrimination
AU - Wright, Jonathan
AU - Baese-Berk, Melissa
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/7
Y1 - 2022/7
N2 - Many studies have examined novel tone perception, but few have investigated the interaction between novel tone perception ability and phonotactic structure. We examined the discrimination of Thai low and mid tones by native Mandarin and native English participants across four syllable types (CCVV, CVV, VV, hums) to test the interaction between first language suprasegmental experience and phonotactic complexity on novel tone discrimination. We also tested the impact of unfamiliar consonant clusters and unfamiliar segments in the onset. Across syllable types, native Mandarin participants discriminated tones better than native English speakers. Further, discrimination ability was not impacted by phonotactic complexity. However, unfamiliar syllable structure impacted discrimination ability for native Mandarin participants in an unintuitive way. They discriminated tones significantly better in CCVV syllables. Unfamiliar segments in the onset, however, had a negative impact on tone discrimination. The presence of /ŋ/ onsets, which are illegal in English and allophonically permitted in Mandarin, significantly reduced tone discrimination accuracy. For native English participants, /ŋ/ onsets resulted in no discrimination between tones. These results suggest that the phonotactic structure of carrier words for tones interacts with L1 phonotactic experience in modulating novel tone perception ability.
AB - Many studies have examined novel tone perception, but few have investigated the interaction between novel tone perception ability and phonotactic structure. We examined the discrimination of Thai low and mid tones by native Mandarin and native English participants across four syllable types (CCVV, CVV, VV, hums) to test the interaction between first language suprasegmental experience and phonotactic complexity on novel tone discrimination. We also tested the impact of unfamiliar consonant clusters and unfamiliar segments in the onset. Across syllable types, native Mandarin participants discriminated tones better than native English speakers. Further, discrimination ability was not impacted by phonotactic complexity. However, unfamiliar syllable structure impacted discrimination ability for native Mandarin participants in an unintuitive way. They discriminated tones significantly better in CCVV syllables. Unfamiliar segments in the onset, however, had a negative impact on tone discrimination. The presence of /ŋ/ onsets, which are illegal in English and allophonically permitted in Mandarin, significantly reduced tone discrimination accuracy. For native English participants, /ŋ/ onsets resulted in no discrimination between tones. These results suggest that the phonotactic structure of carrier words for tones interacts with L1 phonotactic experience in modulating novel tone perception ability.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.wocn.2022.101151
DO - 10.1016/j.wocn.2022.101151
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85130314139
SN - 0095-4470
VL - 93
JO - Journal of Phonetics
JF - Journal of Phonetics
M1 - 101151
ER -