1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Language and Linguistics
  4. Volume 18, Issue 4
  5. Article
Volume 18, Issue 4
  • ISSN 1606-822X
  • E-ISSN: 2309-5067
PDF

Abstract

Abstract

This paper examines the nature of categorical perception (CP) effects in Mandarin and Dutch adult listeners through identification and discrimination tasks using lexical tonal contrasts and through the CP index analysis. In identification tasks, Mandarin listeners identify tones in accordance with their native tonal categories whereas Dutch listeners do so based on acoustic properties. In discrimination tasks, Dutch listeners outperform Mandarin listeners especially in tonal steps on the continuum falling within the Mandarin tonal category boundary, whereas Mandarin listeners display high sensitivity in discrimination of stimuli falling across the native boundary. The CP index analysis shows a higher degree of CP in Mandarin (categorical perception) than in Dutch (psycho-acoustic perception) listeners.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/lali.18.4.03liu
2017-10-10
2025-04-19

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/lali.18.4.03liu
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/lali.18.4.03liu.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1075/lali.18.4.03liu&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Abramson, Arthur S.
    1979 The noncategorical perception of tone categories in Thai. Frontiers of Speech Communication, ed. by B. Lindblom & S. Öhman , 127–134. London: Academic Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Best, Catherine T. , & Winifred Strange
    1992 Effects of phonological and phonetic factors on cross-language perception of approximants. Journal of Phonetics20.31: 305–330. 10.1016/S0095‑4470(19)30637‑0
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0095-4470(19)30637-0 [Google Scholar]
  3. Boersma, Paul , & David Weenink
    2012 Praat: Doing Phonetics by Computer [Computer program] version 5.5. Available atwww.praat.org/ (accessed1 May 2016).
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Broselow, Ellen , Richard R. Hurtig , & Catherine Ringen
    1987 The perception of second language prosody. Interlanguage Phonology: The Acquisition of A Second Language Sound System, ed. by Georgette Ioup & Steven H. Weinberger , 350–361. Cambridge: Newbury House.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Brown-Schmidt, Sarah , & Enriqueta Canseco-Gonzalez
    2004 Who do you love, your mother or your horse? An event-related brain potential analysis of tone processing in Mandarin Chinese. Journal of Psycholinguist Research33.21: 103–135. doi:  10.1023/B:JOPR.0000017223.98667.10
     https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOPR.0000017223.98667.10 [Google Scholar]
  6. Chen, Ao , Aoju Chen , René Kager , & Patrick Wong
    2014 Rises and Falls in Dutch and Mandarin Chinese. Paper presented at The4th International Symposium on Tonal Aspects of Languages, May 13–16, 2014. Nijmegen: Radboud University Nijmegen & the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Chen, Ao , Liquan Liu , & René Kager
    2015 Cross-linguistic perception of Mandarin tone sandhi. Language Sciences481: 62–69. doi:  10.1016/j.langsci.2014.12.002
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2014.12.002 [Google Scholar]
  8. 2016 Cross-domain correlation in pitch perception, the influence of native language. Language, Cognition and Neurosciences31.61: 751–760. doi:  10.1080/23273798.2016.1156715
     https://doi.org/10.1080/23273798.2016.1156715 [Google Scholar]
  9. Content, Alain , & Noémi Perwez
    2011 Categorical perception of tones in Vietnamese. Paper presented at the16th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, August 6–10, 2007. Saarbrücken: Saarland University.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Cutting, James E. , & Burton S. Rosner
    1976 Discrimination functions predicted from categories of speech and music. Perception & Psychophysics20.11: 87–88. doi:  10.3758/BF03198712
     https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03198712 [Google Scholar]
  11. Dietrich, Christiane , Daniel Swingley , & Janet F. Werker
    2007 Native language governs interpretation of salient speech sound differences at 18 months. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences104.411: 16027–16031. doi:  10.1073/pnas.0705270104
     https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0705270104 [Google Scholar]
  12. Dupoux, Emmanuel , Christophe Pallier , Núria Sebastián-Gallés , & Jacques Mehler
    1997 A destressing “deafness” in French?Journal of Memory and Language361: 406–421. doi:  10.1006/jmla.1996.2500
     https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1996.2500 [Google Scholar]
  13. Dupoux, Emmanuel , Núria Sebastián-Gallés , Eduardo Navarrete , & Sharon Peperkamp
    2008 Persistent stress ‘deafness’: the case of French learners of Spanish. Cognition106.21: 682–706. doi:  10.1016/j.cognition.2007.04.001
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2007.04.001 [Google Scholar]
  14. Francis, Alexander L. , Valter Ciocca , & Brenda Kei Chit Ng
    2003 On the (non)categorical perception of lexical tones. Perception & Psychophysics65.71: 1029–1044. doi:  10.3758/BF03194832
     https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03194832 [Google Scholar]
  15. Francis, Alexander L. , Valter Ciocca , Lian Ma , & Kimberly Fenn
    2008 Perceptual learning of Cantonese lexical tones by tone and non-tone language speakers. Journal of Phonetics36.21: 268–294. doi:  10.1016/j.wocn.2007.06.005
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2007.06.005 [Google Scholar]
  16. Gandour, Jackson T.
    1978 The perception of tone. Tone: A Linguistic Survey, ed. by Victoria A. Fromkin , 41–76. New York: Academic Press. doi:  10.1016/B978‑0‑12‑267350‑4.50007‑8
     https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-267350-4.50007-8 [Google Scholar]
  17. Gandour, Jackson T. , Donald Wong , & Gary Hutchins
    1998 Pitch processing in the human brain is influenced by language experience. NeuroReport9.91: 2115–2119. doi:  10.1097/00001756‑199806220‑00038
     https://doi.org/10.1097/00001756-199806220-00038 [Google Scholar]
  18. Gandour, Jackson T. , Donald Wong , Li Hsieh , Bret Weinzapfel , Diana Van Lancker , & Gary D. Hutchins
    2000 A crosslinguistic PET study of tone perception. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience12.11: 207–222. doi:  10.1162/089892900561841
     https://doi.org/10.1162/089892900561841 [Google Scholar]
  19. Gandour, Jackson T. , Mario Dzemidzic , Donald Wong , Mark Lowe , Yunxia Tong , Li Hsieh , & Joseph Lurito
    2001 Differential neural circuitry underlies the perception of Chinese tone and intonation: an fMRI study. NeuroImage13.61: 533. doi:  10.1016/S1053‑8119(01)91876‑2
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-8119(01)91876-2 [Google Scholar]
  20. Hallé, Pierre A. , Yueh-Chin Chang , & Catherine T. Best
    2004 Identification and discrimination of Mandarin Chinese tones by Mandarin Chinese vs. French listeners. Journal of Phonetics32.31: 395–421. doi:  10.1016/S0095‑4470(03)00016‑0
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0095-4470(03)00016-0 [Google Scholar]
  21. Harnad, Steven
    1987 Categorical Perception: The Groundwork of Cognition. New York: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Harrison, Phil
    2000 Acquiring the phonology of lexical tone in infancy. Lingua110.81: 581–616. doi:  10.1016/S0024‑3841(00)00003‑6
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0024-3841(00)00003-6 [Google Scholar]
  23. Hay, Jessica F. , Katharine Graf Estes , Tianlin Wang , & Jenny R. Saffran
    2015 From flexibility to constraint: the contrastive use of lexical tone in early word learning. Child Development86.11: 10–22. doi:  10.1111/cdev.12269
     https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12269 [Google Scholar]
  24. Hsieh, Li , Jack Gandour , Donald Wong , & Gary D. Hutchins
    2000 A PET study of the perception of Chinese tones. NeuroImage11.51: 313. doi:  10.1016/S1053‑8119(00)91245‑X
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-8119(00)91245-X [Google Scholar]
  25. Huang, Tsan , & Keith Johnson
    2010 Language specificity in speech perception: perception of Mandarin tones by native and nonnative listeners. Phonetica67.41: 243–267. doi:  10.1159/000327392
     https://doi.org/10.1159/000327392 [Google Scholar]
  26. Jun, Sun-Ah , & Cécile Fougeron
    2000 A phonological model of French intonation. Intonation: Analysis, Modeling and Technology, ed. by Antonis Botinis , 209–242. Dordrecht: Kluwer. doi:  10.1007/978‑94‑011‑4317‑2_10
     https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4317-2_10 [Google Scholar]
  27. Kaan, Edith , Christopher M. Barkley , Mingzhen Bao , & Ratree Wayland
    2008 Thai lexical tone perception in native speakers of Thai, English and Mandarin Chinese: an event-related potentials training study. BMC Neuroscience91: 53. doi:  10.1186/1471‑2202‑9‑53
     https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2202-9-53 [Google Scholar]
  28. Klein, Denise , Robert J. Zatorre , Brenda Milner , & Viviane Zhao
    2001 A cross-linguistic PET study of tone perception in Mandarin Chinese and English speakers. NeuroImage13.41: 646–653. doi:  10.1006/nimg.2000.0738
     https://doi.org/10.1006/nimg.2000.0738 [Google Scholar]
  29. Kuhl, Patricia K. , Feng-Ming Tsao , & Huei-Mei Liu
    2003 Foreign-language experience in infancy: effects of short-term exposure and social interaction on phonetic learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences100.151: 9096–9101. doi:  10.1073/pnas.1532872100
     https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1532872100 [Google Scholar]
  30. Lee, Chao-Yang
    2007 Does horse activate mother? Processing lexical tone in form priming. Language and Speech50.11: 101–123. doi:  10.1177/00238309070500010501
     https://doi.org/10.1177/00238309070500010501 [Google Scholar]
  31. Lee, Lisa , & Howard C. Nusbaum
    1993 Processing interactions between segmental and suprasegmental information in native speakers of English and Mandarin Chinese. Perception and Psychophysics53.21: 157–165. doi:  10.3758/BF03211726
     https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03211726 [Google Scholar]
  32. Liberman, A. M. , Katherine S. Harris , Jo Ann Kinney , & H. Lane
    1961 The discrimination of relative onset-time of the components of certain speech and nonspeech patterns. Journal of Experimental Psychology61.51: 379–388. doi:  10.1037/h0049038
     https://doi.org/10.1037/h0049038 [Google Scholar]
  33. Liu, Liquan
    2014 The Effects of Bilingualism on Infant Language Development: The Acquisition of Sounds and Words. The Netherlands: LOT.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Liu, Liquan , & René Kager
    2011 Is perceptual reorganization affected by statistical learning? Dutch infants’ sensitivity to lexical tones. Proceedings of the 35th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, ed. by Nick Danis , Kate Mesh & Hyunsuk Sung , 404–413. Somerville: Cascadilla Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. 2013 How bilingualism alters non-tone-learning infants’ tone perception in the first year of life. Proceedings of the 37th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, ed. by Sarah Baiz , Nora Goldman & Rachel Hawkes , 231–240. Somerville: Cascadilla Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. 2014 Perception of tones by infants learning a non-tone language. Cognition133.21: 385–394. doi:  10.1016/j.cognition.2014.06.004
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2014.06.004 [Google Scholar]
  37. 2015a Bilingual exposure influences infant VOT perception. Infant Behavior and Development381: 27–36. doi:  10.1016/j.infbeh.2014.12.004
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2014.12.004 [Google Scholar]
  38. 2015b Understanding phonological acquisition through phonetic perception: the influence of exposure and acoustic salience. Phonological Studies181: 51–58.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. 2016a Perception of a native vowel contrast by Dutch monolingual and bilingual infants: a bilingual perceptual lead. International Journal of Bilingualism20.31: 335–345. doi:  10.1177/1367006914566082
     https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006914566082 [Google Scholar]
  40. 2016b Is mommy talking to daddy or to me? Exploring parental estimates of child language exposure using the multilingual infant questionnaire. International Journal of Multilingualism1–12. doi:  10.1080/14790718.2016.1216120
     https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2016.1216120 [Google Scholar]
  41. 2017a Perception of tones by bilingual infants learning non-tone languages. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition20.31: 561–575. doi:  10.1017/S1366728916000183
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728916000183 [Google Scholar]
  42. 2017b Enhanced music sensitivity in 9-month-old bilingual infants. Cognitive Processing18.11: 55–56. doi:  10.1007/s10339‑016‑0780‑7
     https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-016-0780-7 [Google Scholar]
  43. . Under review. The associative word learning of tones by monolingual and bilingual infants learning non-tone languages. Frontiers in Psychology.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Luo, Hao , Jing-Tian Ni , Zhi-Hao Li , Xiao-Ou Li , Da-Ren Zhang , Fan-Gang Zeng , & Lin Chen
    2006 Opposite patterns of hemisphere dominance for early auditory processing of lexical tones and consonants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences103.511: 19558–19563. doi:  10.1073/pnas.0607065104
     https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0607065104 [Google Scholar]
  45. Macmillan, Neil A. , Howard L. Kaplan , & C. Douglas Creelman
    1977 The Psychophysics of categorical perception. Psychological Review84.51: 452–471. doi:  10.1037/0033‑295X.84.5.452
     https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.84.5.452 [Google Scholar]
  46. Mattock, Karen , & Denis Burnham
    2006 Chinese and English infants’ tone perception: evidence for perceptual reorganization. Infancy10.31: 241–265. doi:  10.1207/s15327078in1003_3
     https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327078in1003_3 [Google Scholar]
  47. Mattock, Karen , Monika Molnar , Linda Polka , & Denis Burnham
    2008 The developmental course of lexical tone perception in the first year of life. Cognition106.31: 1367–1381. doi:  10.1016/j.cognition.2007.07.002
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2007.07.002 [Google Scholar]
  48. Myers, Scott P.
    1987 Tone and the Structure of Words in Shona. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Amherst dissertation.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Peng, Gang , Hong-Ying Zheng , Tao Gong , Ruo-Xiao Yang , Jiang-Ping Kong , & William S.-Y. Wang
    2010 The influence of tone language experience on categorical perception of pitch contours. Journal of Phonetics38.41: 616–624. doi:  10.1016/j.wocn.2010.09.003
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2010.09.003 [Google Scholar]
  50. Peperkamp, Sharon , Inga Vendelin , & Emmanuel Dupoux
    2010 Perception of predictable stress: a cross-linguistic investigation. Journal of Phonetics38.31: 422–430. doi:  10.1016/j.wocn.2010.04.001
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2010.04.001 [Google Scholar]
  51. Pollack, Irwin , & David Pisoni
    1971 On the comparison between identification and discrimination tests in speech perception. Psychonomic Science24.61: 299–300. doi:  10.3758/BF03329012
     https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03329012 [Google Scholar]
  52. Quam, Carolyn , & Daniel Swingley
    2010 Phonological knowledge guides two-year-olds’ and adults’ interpretation of salient pitch contours in word learning. Journal of Memory and Language62.21: 135–150. doi:  10.1016/j.jml.2009.09.003
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2009.09.003 [Google Scholar]
  53. Repp, Bruno H. , & Hwei-Bing Lin
    1990 Integration of segmental and tonal information in speech perception: a cross-linguistic study. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America87.11: 46. doi:  10.1121/1.2028239
     https://doi.org/10.1121/1.2028239 [Google Scholar]
  54. Schouten, M. E. H. , & A. J. van Hessen
    1992 Modeling phoneme perception. I: Categorical perception. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America92.41: 1841–1855. doi:  10.1121/1.403841
     https://doi.org/10.1121/1.403841 [Google Scholar]
  55. Singh, Leher , Tam Jun Hui , Calista Chan , & Roberta Michnick Golinkoff
    2013 Influences of vowel and tone variation on emergent word knowledge: a cross-linguistic investigation. Developmental Science17.11: 94–109.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Soto-Faraco, Salvador , Núria Sebastián-Gallés , & Anne Cutler
    2001 Segmental and suprasegmental mismatch in lexical access. Journal of Memory and Language45.31: 412–432. doi:  10.1006/jmla.2000.2783
     https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.2000.2783 [Google Scholar]
  57. Stagray, James R. , & David Downs
    1993 Differential sensitivity for frequency among speakers of a tone and a nontone language. Journal of Chinese Linguistics21.11: 143–163.
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Sun, Kuo-Chan , & Tsan Huang
    2012 A cross-linguistic study of Taiwanese tone perception by Taiwanese and English listeners. Journal of East Asian Linguistics21.31: 305–327. doi:  10.1007/s10831‑012‑9092‑9
     https://doi.org/10.1007/s10831-012-9092-9 [Google Scholar]
  59. van Hessen, A. J. , & M. E. H. Schouten
    1999 Categorical perception as a function of stimulus quality. Phonetica561: 56–72. doi:  10.1159/000028441
     https://doi.org/10.1159/000028441 [Google Scholar]
  60. Van Lancker, Diana , & Victoria A. Fromkin
    1973 Hemispheric specialization for pitch and “tone”: evidence from Thai. Journal of Phonetics11: 101–109. 10.1016/S0095‑4470(19)31414‑7
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0095-4470(19)31414-7 [Google Scholar]
  61. Veenker, Theo J. G.
    1998 FEP, a tool for designing and running computerized experiments [Computer software]. Utrecht: Utrecht Institute of Linguistics OTS, Utrecht University.
     [Google Scholar]
  62. Wang, William S.-Y.
    1973 The Chinese language. Scientific American2281: 50–60. doi:  10.1038/scientificamerican0273‑50
     https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0273-50 [Google Scholar]
  63. 1976 Language Change. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences280.11: 61–72. doi:  10.1111/j.1749‑6632.1976.tb25472.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1976.tb25472.x [Google Scholar]
  64. Wang, Yue , Allard Jongman , & Joan A. Sereno
    2001 Dichotic perception of Mandarin tones by Chinese and American listeners. Brain and Language78.31: 332–348. doi:  10.1006/brln.2001.2474
     https://doi.org/10.1006/brln.2001.2474 [Google Scholar]
  65. Wang, Yue , Dawn M. Behne , Allard Jongman , & Joan A. Sereno
    2004 The role of linguistic experience in the hemispheric processing of lexical tone. Applied Psycholinguistics25.31: 449–466. 10.1017/S0142716404001213
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716404001213 [Google Scholar]
  66. Werker, Janet F. , & Richard C. Tees
    1984 Cross-language speech perception: evidence for perceptual reorganization during the first year of life. Infant Behavior and Development7.11: 49–63. doi:  10.1016/S0163‑6383(84)80022‑3
     https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-6383(84)80022-3 [Google Scholar]
  67. Whalen, D. H. , & Yi Xu
    1992 Information for Mandarin tones in the amplitude contour and in brief segments. Phonetica49.11: 25–47. doi:  10.1159/000261901
     https://doi.org/10.1159/000261901 [Google Scholar]
  68. Wu, Xianghua , & Hua Lin
    2008 Perception of Mandarin Tones by Mandarin and English Listeners. Journal of Chinese Language and Computing18.41: 175–187.
     [Google Scholar]
  69. Wu, Xianghua , Jung-Yueh Tu , & Yue Wang
    2012 Native and nonnative processing of Japanese pitch accent. Applied Psycholinguistics33.31: 623–641. doi:  10.1017/S0142716411000506
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716411000506 [Google Scholar]
  70. Xu, Yisheng , Jackson T. Gandour , & Alexander L. Francis
    2006 Effects of language experience and stimulus complexity on the categorical perception of pitch direction. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America120.21: 1063–1074. doi:  10.1121/1.2213572
     https://doi.org/10.1121/1.2213572 [Google Scholar]
  71. Yeung, H. Henny , Ke Heng Chen , & Janet F. Werker
    2013 When does native language input affect phonetic perception? The precocious case of lexical tone. Journal of Memory and Language68.21: 123–139. doi:  10.1016/j.jml.2012.09.004
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2012.09.004 [Google Scholar]
  72. Henderson, A. I. , & S. Nelms
    1980 Relative salience of intonation fall and pause as cues to the perceptual segmentation of speech in an unfamiliar language. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research9.21: 147–159. doi:  10.1007/BF01067468
     https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067468 [Google Scholar]
  73. Liu, Liquan , & René Kager
    . In press. Dutch infants’ lexical tone perception under distributional learning. Journal of Child Experimental Psychology.
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/lali.18.4.03liu
Loading
Perception of tones in Mandarin and Dutch adult listeners
Language and Linguistics 18, 622 (2017); https://doi.org/10.1075/lali.18.4.03liu
/content/journals/10.1075/lali.18.4.03liu
/content/journals/10.1075/lali.18.4.03liu
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): categorical perception; CP index analysis; cross-linguistic perception; lexical tone; psycho-acoustic perception

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error