Cross language differences in tone perception
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, (1977)DOI: 10.1121/1.1520910
Аннотация
Using an individual differences multidimensional scaling model of
perception, the present crosslanguage investigation seeks to determine
what dimensions underlie the perception of linguistic tone, and to
what extent an individual's language background (Thai, Yoruba, or
American English) influences his perception. Dissimilarities data
were obtained from subject's paired--comparison judgments of thirteen
different pitch pat- terns superimposed on a synthetic speechlike
syllable. A multidimensional scaling analysis of the data for the
total group revealed that five dimensions--interpretively labeled,
AVERAGE PITCH, DIRECTION, LENGTH, EXTREME END- POINT and SLOPE--best
summarize the perceptual structure underlying the dissimilarities
data. Language subgroup varia- tion in relative importance of these
dimensions appears to be primarily related to subgroup differences
in the way pitch is used to convey linguistic information. Discriminant
analysis showed that most individual speakers of a tone language
(Thai or Yoruba) can be easily distinguished from speakers of a nontone
language (English) on the basis of their distinctive patterns of
perceptual sallehey for these five dimensions. Research supported
in part by fellowship grants provided by SSRC and NSF to first author.
UCLA 1975--1976.