Lexical Tone vs. F0 Effects on VOT in Cantonese

This study investigates the effects of lexical tone on the Voice Onset Time (VOT) of prevocalic stops in Cantonese. It builds on literature showing how various factors affect VOT without a resultant loss in phonological contrast and also ties in a body of research on tone and consonant interaction. The specific research questions addressed are (1) Does tone have an effect on VOT in Cantonese?; (2) If so, what kind of an effect does it have?; and (3) Is this effect purely an automatic articulatory consequence of F0 modulation or is this effect also mediated by lexical tone and hence a secondary cue that contributes towards maintaining phonological contrasts between different tonal categories? To address these questions, the speech of 6 native speakers (5 male and 1 female) of Hong Kong Cantonese was examined. A total of 80 tokens of words contrasting in tone and aspiration were analyzed for each speaker for a grand total of 480 tokens. Results from an ANOVA test showed that there is a statistically significant effect (

The Phonetics of VOT and Tone Interaction in Cantonese

This study investigates the possible effects of lexical tone on Voice Onset Time (VOT) in Cantonese, a tonal language with a two-way contrast between short-lag (voiceless unaspirated) and long-lag (voiceless aspirated) stops. VOT was measured as the time interval between the stop burst and the onset of voicing for the following vowel. The recorded speech of 6 native speakers each producing 10 repetitions of 20 different words contrasting in aspiration and tone was analyzed. Tokens from each individual subject were divided into two sets for the purpose of comparison. The first set involved a comparison between the effects of a high-level 55 tone and a mid-level 33 tone. Results showed no significant VOT differences unless aspirated and unaspirated stops were examined separately. In this case, only the aspirated stops showed a significant difference with the 33 tone associated with higher VOT. The second set of stimuli compared the effects of 4 different phonemic tone categories (55, 25, 33, and 21) on VOT. Results show that words beginning with a lower tonal onset (and thus the 25 and 21 tones) correlated with higher VOT than words beginning with a higher tonal onset (the 55 and 33 tones)

The relationship between Cantonese tonal confusions and audiometric configuration and sensitivity in the elderly

Also available in print.Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 1992A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science (Speech and Hearing Sciences), University of Hong Kong, April 30, 1992.published_or_final_versionSpeech and Hearing SciencesBachelorBachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Science

Pre-low raising in Cantonese and Thai: Effects of speech rate and vowel quantity

Although pre-low raising (PLR) has been extensively studied as a type of contextual tonal variation, its underlying mechanism is barely understood. This paper explored the effects of phonetic vs phonological duration on PLR in Cantonese and Thai and examined how speech rate and vowel quantity interact with its realization in these languages, respectively. The results for Cantonese revealed that PLR always occurred before a large falling excursion (i.e., high-low); in other tonal contexts, it was observed more often in faster speech. In the Thai corpus, PLR also occurred before large falling excursions, and there was more PLR in short vowels. These results are discussed in terms of possible accounts of the underlying mechanism of PLR

Hakka tone training for native speakers of tonal and nontonal languages

Language learning becomes increasingly difficult when novel linguistic features are introduced. Studies have shown that learners from various language backgrounds can be trained to perceive lexical tone, which assigns meaning to words using variations in pitch. In this thesis, we investigated whether native speakers of tonal Mandarin Chinese and tonal Vietnamese outperformed native speakers of nontonal English when learning Hakka Chinese tones following five sessions of tone training, and whether the complexity (i.e., density) of a listener’s native tone inventory facilitated nonnative tone learning. All groups improved in tone identification and tone word learning following training, with improvements persisting three weeks following the cessation of training. Although both tonal groups outperformed the English group in most tasks, the Mandarin group showed the most consistent advantages over the English group across tasks. Findings suggest that tone experience bolsters tone learning, but density of the tone inventory does not provide an advantage. Confusion patterns offer detailed insight of the interaction between nonnative tones and native tonal and intonational categories

Statistical Speech Segmentation in Tone Languages: The Role of Lexical Tones

First Published May 9, 2017Research has demonstrated distinct roles for consonants and vowels in speech processing. For example, consonants have been shown to support lexical processes, such as the segmentation of speech based on transitional probabilities (TPs), more effectively than vowels. Theory and data so far, however, have considered only non-tone languages, that is to say, languages that lack contrastive lexical tones. In the present work, we provide a first investigation of the role of consonants and vowels in statistical speech segmentation by native speakers of Cantonese, as well as assessing how tones modulate the processing of vowels. Results show that Cantonese speakers are unable to use statistical cues carried by consonants for segmentation, but they can use cues carried by vowels. This difference becomes more evident when considering tone-bearing vowels. Additional data from speakers of Russian and Mandarin suggest that the ability of Cantonese speakers to segment streams with statistical cues carried by tone-bearing vowels extends to other tone languages, but is much reduced in speakers of non-tone languages.The research leading to these results has received funding from: the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC [grant agreement 269502, PASCAL]; the Chilean CONICYT program PIA/BASAL [grant FB0003]; the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; and the Basque Foundation for Science (Ikerbasque)

Contrasting the effects of duration and number of syllables on the perceptual normalization of lexical tones

Abstract no. 4aSC30published_or_final_versio

Near-merger in Hong Kong Cantonese tones: a behavioural and ERP study

Near-merger is a recalcitrant phenomenon in sound change in which speakers are able to differentiate two sounds in production but consistently report that they are the same in perception. This phenomenon challenges the dominant models of phonological processing, and raises methodological questions whether speakers’ judgment can truly reflect their ability to discriminate speech sounds. The present study attempts to provide a thorough assessment of this intriguing phenomenon through performing behavioural and ERP studies on the perception of a tonal contrast (T4/T6) in Hong Kong Cantonese which has been reported to exhibit near-merger in previous studies. The behavioural study adopts auditory discrimination and oral production tasks, whereas the ERP study employs passive oddball task to elicit MMNs. Preliminary findings showed that the results of ERP measures were consistent with that of the behavioural measures. MMNs were found in participants who could discriminate the two tones whereas no MMN was found in participants who failed to discriminate them behaviourally. These initial observations are not only consistent with the existence of near-merger, but also mark the beginning of research efforts into understanding this baffling phenomenon.postprint第3届语言音调方面国际研讨会 (TAL 2012),中国, 南京, 2012年5月26-29日.The 3rd International Symposium on Tonal Aspects of Languages (TAL 2012), Nanjing, China, 26-29 May 2012

Effects of native language experience on perceptual learning of Cantonese lexical tones

Abstract no. 4aSC3published_or_final_versio