Acoustic-phonetic consequences of clear speech in Cantonese vowels and lexical tones

2018 ◽  
Vol 144 (3) ◽  
pp. 1719-1719
Author(s):  
Angela Cooper ◽  
Ann Bradlow ◽  
Yue Wang
Keyword(s):  
Clear Speech ◽  
Lexical Tones

Influence of clear speech on F0 patterns of Mandarin lexical tones

2021 ◽  
Vol 150 (4) ◽  
pp. A72-A72
Author(s):  
Jack W. Rittenberry ◽  
Irina Shport
Keyword(s):  
Clear Speech ◽  
Lexical Tones

On the Relationship Between General Auditory Sensitivity and Speech Perception: An Examination of Pitch and Lexical Tone Perception in 4- to 6-Year-Old Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 487-498
Author(s):  
Puisan Wong ◽  
Man Wai Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Auditory Sensitivity ◽  
Pitch Discrimination ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Perceptual Training ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Tone Perception ◽  
Tone Discrimination

Purpose Theoretical models and substantial research have proposed that general auditory sensitivity is a developmental foundation for speech perception and language acquisition. Nonetheless, controversies exist about the effectiveness of general auditory training in improving speech and language skills. This research investigated the relationships among general auditory sensitivity, phonemic speech perception, and word-level speech perception via the examination of pitch and lexical tone perception in children. Method Forty-eight typically developing 4- to 6-year-old Cantonese-speaking children were tested on the discrimination of the pitch patterns of lexical tones in synthetic stimuli, discrimination of naturally produced lexical tones, and identification of lexical tone in familiar words. Results The findings revealed that accurate lexical tone discrimination and identification did not necessarily entail the accurate discrimination of nonlinguistic stimuli that followed the pitch levels and pitch shapes of lexical tones. Although pitch discrimination and tone discrimination abilities were strongly correlated, accuracy in pitch discrimination was lower than that in tone discrimination, and nonspeech pitch discrimination ability did not precede linguistic tone discrimination in the developmental trajectory. Conclusions Contradicting the theoretical models, the findings of this study suggest that general auditory sensitivity and speech perception may not be causally or hierarchically related. The finding that accuracy in pitch discrimination is lower than that in tone discrimination suggests that comparable nonlinguistic auditory perceptual ability may not be necessary for accurate speech perception and language learning. The results cast doubt on the use of nonlinguistic auditory perceptual training to improve children's speech, language, and literacy abilities.

Processing Lexical Tones and Emotional Tones in Precategorical Acoustic Storage

2010 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 651-662
Author(s):  
Wei-Wei QIN ◽  
Si-Yun LIU ◽  
Li YANG ◽  
Zong-Kui ZHOU
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Tones

scholarly journals Lexical and Prosodic Pitch Modifications in Cantonese Infant-directed Speech

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Luchang WANG ◽  
Marina KALASHNIKOVA ◽  
René KAGER ◽  
Regine LAI ◽  
Patrick C.M. WONG
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Phonetic Learning ◽  
Tonal Space ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Talker Variation ◽  
Phonemic Contrasts

Abstract The functions of acoustic-phonetic modifications in infant-directed speech (IDS) remain a question: do they specifically serve to facilitate language learning via enhanced phonemic contrasts (the hyperarticulation hypothesis) or primarily to improve communication via prosodic exaggeration (the prosodic hypothesis)? The study of lexical tones provides a unique opportunity to shed light on this, as lexical tones are phonemically contrastive, yet their primary cue, pitch, is also a prosodic cue. This study investigated Cantonese IDS and found increased intra-talker variation of lexical tones, which more likely posed a challenge to rather than facilitated phonetic learning. Although tonal space was expanded which could facilitate phonetic learning, its expansion was a function of overall intonational modifications. Similar findings were observed in speech to pets who should not benefit from larger phonemic distinction. We conclude that lexical-tone adjustments in IDS mainly serve to broadly enhance communication rather than specifically increase phonemic contrast for learners.

scholarly journals Statistical Speech Segmentation in Tone Languages: The Role of Lexical Tones

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Gómez ◽  
Peggy Mok ◽  
Mikhail Ordin ◽  
Jacques Mehler ◽  
Marina Nespor
Keyword(s):  
Speech Processing ◽  
Additional Data ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Speech Segmentation ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Tone Languages ◽  
Transitional Probabilities ◽  
Lexical Processes

Research has demonstrated distinct roles for consonants and vowels in speech processing. For example, consonants have been shown to support lexical processes, such as the segmentation of speech based on transitional probabilities (TPs), more effectively than vowels. Theory and data so far, however, have considered only non-tone languages, that is to say, languages that lack contrastive lexical tones. In the present work, we provide a first investigation of the role of consonants and vowels in statistical speech segmentation by native speakers of Cantonese, as well as assessing how tones modulate the processing of vowels. Results show that Cantonese speakers are unable to use statistical cues carried by consonants for segmentation, but they can use cues carried by vowels. This difference becomes more evident when considering tone-bearing vowels. Additional data from speakers of Russian and Mandarin suggest that the ability of Cantonese speakers to segment streams with statistical cues carried by tone-bearing vowels extends to other tone languages, but is much reduced in speakers of non-tone languages.

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