Quené H, Koster M L
Utrecht Institute for Linguistics OTS, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
Lang Speech. 1998 Apr-Jun;41 ( Pt 2):185-202. doi: 10.1177/002383099804100203.
Previous experiments using a word-spotting task suggest that English listeners use metrically strong syllables to segment continuous speech into discrete words (Cutler & Norris, 1988). The present study is concerned with this metrical segmentation strategy in Dutch. Although Dutch and English share general metrical properties, they differ in ways that may affect segmentation. First, the acoustic cues for metrically strong syllables are less salient in Dutch than in English; hence a metrical segmentation strategy is less likely to be applied by Dutch listeners. Second, vowel quality depends less on metrical structure in Dutch than in English; hence segmentation in Dutch is presumably triggered by other acoustic cues, namely, those related to stress. Experiment 1 shows that stress strongly affects Dutch listeners' ability and speed in spotting Dutch monosyllabic words in disyllabic nonwords. Experiment 2, however, finds the same stress effect when only the target words are presented, without a subsequent syllable triggering segmentation. A third experiment shows a small effect of vowel quality on error scores, but not on latencies. These results suggest that Dutch listeners do not apply a metrical segmentation strategy. The discrepancy between the two languages suggests that segmentation strategies may depend on language-specific regularities in the phonology and in the lexicon.
以往使用单词识别任务的实验表明，以英语为母语的听者会利用韵律上的重读音节将连续的语音分割成离散的单词（卡特勒和诺里斯，1988）。本研究关注荷兰语中的这种韵律分割策略。虽然荷兰语和英语具有一般的韵律特征，但它们在一些可能影响分割的方面存在差异。首先，荷兰语中韵律重读音节的声学线索不如英语中那么显著；因此，荷兰语听者不太可能采用韵律分割策略。其次，荷兰语中元音质量对韵律结构的依赖程度低于英语；因此，荷兰语中的分割大概是由其他声学线索触发的，即与重音相关的线索。实验1表明，重音对荷兰语听者在双音节非词中识别荷兰语单音节单词的能力和速度有强烈影响。然而，实验2发现，当只呈现目标单词而没有后续音节触发分割时，也存在同样的重音效应。第三个实验表明，元音质量对错误分数有微小影响，但对反应时没有影响。这些结果表明，荷兰语听者不会采用韵律分割策略。这两种语言之间的差异表明，分割策略可能取决于语音学和词汇中特定于语言的规律。
