Online adjustment of phonetic expectation of lexical tones to accommodate speaker variation
- Speaker: Dr Zhang Caicai
(Assistant Professor
Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) - Overview:
An unresolved question in speech perception is how speech signals with speaker variation are mapped onto their perceptual representations. In this study, this issue was examined using a written-word/spoken-word matching paradigm, where listeners could adjust phonetic expectations of spoken words carrying lexical tones according to speaker-specific F0 cues contained in a preceding speech context, to analyse the tone of the incoming spoken word. Behavioural results showed that Cantonese listeners perceived spoken words differently, in a way compatible with the adjustment of F0 expectations of lexical tones to accommodate between- and within-speaker variation in F0. Electrophysiologically, effects of F0 expectation adjustment were found in the phonological mapping negativity (PMN) time-window (250-310 ms after spoken word onset). These results suggest that phonetic representations of lexical tones are adjustable in a speaker- and context-specific manner, with the adjustment occurring no later than pre-lexical phonemic processing. These findings are consistent with the exemplar theory.
- Date: 10 December 2017 (Sunday)
