The tone atlas of perceptual discriminability and perceptual distance: Four tone languages and five language groups

Liquan Liu; Regine Lai; Leher Singh; Marina Kalashnikova; Patrick C M Wong; Benjawan Kasisopa; Ao Chen; Chutamanee Onsuwan; Denis Burnham

doi:10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105106

The tone atlas of perceptual discriminability and perceptual distance: Four tone languages and five language groups

Brain Lang. 2022 Jun:229:105106. doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105106. Epub 2022 Apr 4.

Authors

Liquan Liu¹, Regine Lai², Leher Singh³, Marina Kalashnikova⁴, Patrick C M Wong⁵, Benjawan Kasisopa⁶, Ao Chen⁷, Chutamanee Onsuwan⁸, Denis Burnham⁹

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, Western Sydney University, Australia; The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Australia; Center for Multilingualism in Society Across the Lifespan, University of Oslo, Norway; Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language, Australian Research Council, Australia. Electronic address: l.liu@westernsydney.edu.au.
² Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
³ Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
⁴ The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Australia; Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language, Spain; Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Spain.
⁵ Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
⁶ The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Australia.
⁷ School of Communication Sciences, Beijing Language and Culture University, China.
⁸ Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Center of Excellence in Intelligent Informatics, Speech and Language Technology, and Service Innovation (CILS), Thammasat University, Thailand.
⁹ The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Australia. Electronic address: Burnham@westernsydney.edu.au.

PMID: 35390675
DOI: 10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105106

Abstract

Some prior investigations suggest that tone perception is flexible, reasonably independent of native phonology, whereas others suggest it is constrained by native phonology. We address this issue in a systematic and comprehensive investigation of adult tone perception. Sampling from diverse tone and non-tone speaking communities, we tested discrimination of the three major tone systems (Cantonese, Thai, Mandarin) that dominate the tone perception literature, in relation to native language and language experience as well as stimulus variation (tone properties, presentation order, pitch cues) using linear mixed effect modelling and multidimensional scaling. There was an overall discrimination advantage for tone language speakers and for native tones. However, language- and tone-specific effects, and presentation order effects also emerged. Thus, over and above native phonology, stimulus variation exerts a powerful influence on tone discrimination. This study provides a tone atlas, a reference guide to inform empirical studies of tone sensitivity, both retrospectively and prospectively.

Keywords: Contrast type; Cross-linguistic perception; Cue-weighting; Multi-dimensional analysis; Perceptual asymmetry; Tone; Tone system.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Humans
Language*
Phonetics
Pitch Perception
Retrospective Studies
Speech Perception*