Pitch perception and surprise in Mandarin Chinese: Evidence for parallel encoding via additive division of pitch range

SECOND AND THIRD LANGUAGE LEARNERS’ SENSITIVITY TO JAPANESE PITCH ACCENT IS ADDITIVE

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263119000068 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 41 (04) ◽

pp. 897-910

Author(s):

Seth Wiener ◽

Seth Goss

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

Mandarin Chinese ◽

Language Learners ◽

Discrimination Task ◽

Pitch Perception ◽

Pitch Accent ◽

Third Language ◽

Japanese Pitch Accent

AbstractThis study examines second (L2) and third (L3) language learners’ pitch perception. We test the hypothesis that a listener’s discrimination of and sensitivity (d’) to Japanese pitch accent reflects how pitch cues inform all words a listener knows in an additive, nonselective manner rather than how pitch cues inform words in a selective, Japanese-only manner. Six groups of listeners performed a speeded ABX discrimination task in Japanese. Groups were defined by their L1, L2, and L3 experience with the target language’s pitch cues (Japanese), a language with less informative pitch cues (English), or a language with more informative pitch cues (Mandarin Chinese). Results indicate that sensitivity to pitch is better modeled as a function of pitch’s informativeness across all languages a listener speaks. These findings support cue-centric views of perception and transfer, demonstrate potential advantageous transfer of tonal-L1/L2 speakers, and highlight the cumulative role that pitch plays in language learning.

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The interaction between tone and prosodic focus in Mandarin Chinese

Language and Linguistics ◽

10.1075/lali.00063.wan ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 331-350

Author(s):

Ting Wang ◽

Jun Liu ◽

Yong-hun Lee ◽

Yong-cheol Lee

Keyword(s):

Mandarin Chinese ◽

Opposite Pattern ◽

Pitch Range ◽

Tonal Language ◽

Phone Number ◽

Prosodic Cues ◽

Production Experiment ◽

Prosodic Focus ◽

Level Tone ◽

Contour Tones

Abstract This study characterized focused tones in Mandarin Chinese through a production experiment using phone number strings. The results revealed that, although phonation cues had little effect on any focused tone, prosodic cues exhibited various patterns of distribution. Duration played an important role for each focused tone, but intensity had a relatively less salient role. Among pitch-related parameters, the raising of pitch register was an important cue when a level tone (tone 1) was focused. By contrast, due to the interaction between tone and intonation, absolute slope and pitch range had less effect on tone 1 focus. These cues, however, were prominent when contour tones (tones 2 and 4) were in focus. Unlike other focused tones that raised pitch, tone 3 focus exhibited the opposite pattern, lowering its pitch target. In the aggregation of all focused tones, it was found that only primarily pitch-related parameters were selected as the main variables discriminating one from another. The results of this study, therefore, suggest that the prosodic marking of focus is not uniform, even within a single language, but clearly differs by tone type. Accordingly, prosodic marking of focus should be considered multimodal in a tonal language.

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Pitch properties of infant-directed speech specific to word-learning contexts: a cross-linguistic investigation of Mandarin Chinese and Dutch

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000919000813 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 85-111

Author(s):

Mengru HAN ◽

Nivja H. DE JONG ◽

René KAGER

Keyword(s):

Mandarin Chinese ◽

Word Learning ◽

Pitch Range ◽

Lexical Development ◽

Learning Contexts ◽

Chinese Mothers ◽

The Mean

AbstractThis study investigates the pitch properties of infant-directed speech (IDS) specific to word-learning contexts in which mothers introduce unfamiliar words to children. Using a semi-spontaneous story-book telling task, we examined (1) whether mothers made distinctions between unfamiliar and familiar words with pitch in IDS compared to adult-directed speech (ADS); (2) whether pitch properties change when mothers address children from 18 to 24 months; and (3) how Mandarin Chinese and Dutch IDS differ in their pitch properties in word-learning contexts. Results show that the mean pitch of Mandarin Chinese IDS was already ADS-like when children were 24 months, but Dutch IDS remained exaggerated in pitch at the same age. Crucially, Mandarin Chinese mothers used a higher pitch and a larger pitch range in IDS when introducing unfamiliar words, while Dutch mothers used a higher pitch specifically for familiar words. These findings contribute to the language-specificity of prosodic input in early lexical development.

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Age-Related Decline in Emotional Prosody Discrimination

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000241 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 61 (3) ◽

pp. 215-223 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Rachel L. C. Mitchell ◽

Rachel A. Kingston

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Auditory Perception ◽

Duration Discrimination ◽

Pitch Perception ◽

Sensory Level ◽

Emotional Prosody ◽

Processing Stage ◽

Acoustic Characteristics ◽

Age Related ◽

Level Of Processing

It is now accepted that older adults have difficulty recognizing prosodic emotion cues, but it is not clear at what processing stage this ability breaks down. We manipulated the acoustic characteristics of tones in pitch, amplitude, and duration discrimination tasks to assess whether impaired basic auditory perception coexisted with our previously demonstrated age-related prosodic emotion perception impairment. It was found that pitch perception was particularly impaired in older adults, and that it displayed the strongest correlation with prosodic emotion discrimination. We conclude that an important cause of age-related impairment in prosodic emotion comprehension exists at the fundamental sensory level of processing.

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