(Non-)categorical perception of Mandarin tones: a comparison between speakers of tone and non-tone languages
Date
2010-01-21T16:50:29Z
Authors
Wu, Xianghua
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Abstract
This thesis examines the factors that affect categorical perception of Mandarin tones by English, Thai and Mandarin speakers. A pre-study and a main study were conducted. The pre-study was carried out to investigate the correspondence between Mandarin and Thai tones. The main study compared the categorization of two Mandarin tone contrasts, one between the high level tone (T1) and falling tone (T4), and the other between the rising tone (T2) and falling-rising tone (T3). The results suggest that linguistic experience, natural auditory sensitivity and perceptual training all affect Mandarin tone categorization. among which, the effect of linguistic experience is most noticeable. This study also demonstrates that Best et al.'s (1988, 1994, 1995) Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM) is useful in characterizing not only segmental assimilation patterns, as illustrated in many previous studies, but also suprasegmental categorization patterns.
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Mandarin dialects, Chinese language, tone