Integration of segmental and tonal information in speech perception: a cross-linguistic study

For speakers of a tone language, a close functional association exists between segmental structure and F0 contour (i.e., tone) in speech because both dimensions are needed to identify words. Using the speeded classification paradigm, which does not require lexical access, we examined the hypothesis that segmental and tonal dimensions are perceptually more strongly integrated for speakers of a tone language (Mandarin Chinese) than for speakers of a nontone language (English). In four classification tasks, requiring attention to one dimension (either segmental or tonal) of CV syllables while ignoring the other, both subject groups showed strong perceptual integrality (i.e., interference from orthogonal variation in the unattended dimension). The Chinese subjects showed significantly more integrality than the English subjects in only one of the four tasks. After correcting for the fact that subjects took longer to respond to tonal distinctions than to segmental distinctions, we interpreted the results as suggesting that Chinese and English listeners both show an underlying processing asymmetry between consonants and tones in CV syllables, whereas only Chinese listeners show such an asymmetry between vowels and tones (vowels being more integral with tones than vice versa). This may be a reflection of specific language experience.

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