Do Japanese speakers perceive nonexistent vowels in non‐native consonant clusters

2008 ◽  
Vol 123 (5) ◽  
pp. 3072-3072
Author(s):  
Seiya Funatsu ◽  
Satoshi Imaizumi ◽  
Masako Fujimoto ◽  
Akira Hashizume ◽  
Kaoru Kurisu
Keyword(s):  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Japanese Speakers

scholarly journals THE PHONOLOGICAL ILLUSION: THE QUALITY AND NUMBER OF EPENTHETIC VOWELS

Verbum ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 144
Author(s):  
Gerda Ana Mel
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Context Sensitivity ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Critical Comparison ◽  
Japanese Speakers ◽  
Phonological System

Adult speakers tend to have difficulties in perceiving non-native sequences of sounds as their percep­tion is influenced by the features of their L1 phonological system. For example, previous studies have shown that Japanese speakers perceptually insert an illusory vowel /u/ in consonant clusters, which are phonotoctically illegal structures in Japanese. While the phenomenon of phonological illusion also occurs in other languages, such as Brazilian Portuguese or Korean, the epenthetic vowels have been shown to be language-specific. Despite these findings, many questions concerning the number of illusory vowels possible in a language and their quality remain open. In this study we will present recent work on the topic and provide a critical comparison of those findings, concentrating on the role of context-sensitivity in the determination of the features of the illusory vowel. 

scholarly journals THE PHONOLOGICAL ILLUSION: THE QUALITY AND NUMBER OF EPENTHETIC VOWELS

Verbum ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 144
Author(s):  
Gerda Ana Melnik
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Context Sensitivity ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Critical Comparison ◽  
Japanese Speakers ◽  
Phonological System

Adult speakers tend to have difficulties in perceiving non-native sequences of sounds as their percep­tion is influenced by the features of their L1 phonological system. For example, previous studies have shown that Japanese speakers perceptually insert an illusory vowel /u/ in consonant clusters, which are phonotoctically illegal structures in Japanese. While the phenomenon of phonological illusion also occurs in other languages, such as Brazilian Portuguese or Korean, the epenthetic vowels have been shown to be language-specific. Despite these findings, many questions concerning the number of illusory vowels possible in a language and their quality remain open. In this study we will present recent work on the topic and provide a critical comparison of those findings, concentrating on the role of context-sensitivity in the determination of the features of the illusory vowel.

Do Writing Directions Influence How People Map Space onto Time?

2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 173-184
Author(s):  
Wenxing Yang ◽  
Ying Sun
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representations ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Horizontal Axis ◽  
Causal Role ◽  
Writing Systems ◽  
Temporal Cognition ◽  
Japanese Speakers ◽  
Psychological Experiments ◽  
Vertical Up

Abstract. The causal role of a unidirectional orthography in shaping speakers’ mental representations of time seems to be well established by many psychological experiments. However, the question of whether bidirectional writing systems in some languages can also produce such an impact on temporal cognition remains unresolved. To address this issue, the present study focused on Japanese and Taiwanese, both of which have a similar mix of texts written horizontally from left to right (HLR) and vertically from top to bottom (VTB). Two experiments were performed which recruited Japanese and Taiwanese speakers as participants. Experiment 1 used an explicit temporal arrangement design, and Experiment 2 measured implicit space-time associations in participants along the horizontal (left/right) and the vertical (up/down) axis. Converging evidence gathered from the two experiments demonstrate that neither Japanese speakers nor Taiwanese speakers aligned their vertical representations of time with the VTB writing orientation. Along the horizontal axis, only Japanese speakers encoded elapsing time into a left-to-right linear layout, which was commensurate with the HLR writing direction. Therefore, two distinct writing orientations of a language could not bring about two coexisting mental time lines. Possible theoretical implications underlying the findings are discussed.

scholarly journals Do Sibilants Fly? Evidence from a Sound Symbolic Pattern in Pokémon Names

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 386-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shigeto Kawahara ◽  
Mahayana C. Godoy ◽  
Gakuji Kumagai
Keyword(s):  
Sound Symbolism ◽  
Research Paradigm ◽  
Current Experiment ◽  
Normal Type ◽  
Natural Languages ◽  
Japanese Speakers ◽  
Symbolic Value

AbstractAncient writers, including Socrates and the Upanishads, argued that sibilants are associated with the notions of wind, air and sky. From modern perspectives, these statements can be understood as an assertion about sound symbolism, i.e., systematic connections between sounds and meanings. Inspired by these writers, this article reports on an experiment that tests a sound symbolic value of sibilants. The experiment is a case study situated within the Pokémonastics research paradigm, in which the researchers explore the sound symbolic patterns in natural languages using Pokémon names. The current experiment shows that when presented with pairs of a flying-type Pokémon character and a normal-type Pokémon character, Japanese speakers are more likely to associate the flying-type Pokémons with names that contain sibilants than those names that do not contain sibilants. As was pointed out by Socrates, the sound symbolic connection identified in the experiment is likely to be grounded in the articulatory properties of sibilants – the large amount of oral airflow that accompanies the production of sibilants. Various implications of the current experiment for the sound symbolism research are discussed throughout the article.

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