Crowther C S, Mann V
Department of Cognitive Science, School of Social Science, University of California, Irvine 92717.
J Acoust Soc Am. 1992 Aug;92(2 Pt 1):711-22. doi: 10.1121/1.403996.
Preceding vocalic information can cue final consonant voicing for native English speakers. This study examines subjects' use of two vocalic cues, vocalic duration, and F1 offset frequency, as a function of two native language factors, experience with final stop consonants, and experience with phonemic vowel length. Native speakers of English are compared to native speakers of Japanese and Mandarin Chinese who are learning English as a second language. Experiment 1 measured the F1 offset frequency and vocalic duration in productions of "pod" and "pot." Experiment 2 assessed identification of natural tokens of "pod" and "pot" with and without closure segments and bursts. Experiment 3 assessed categorization of synthetic "pod"-"pot" stimuli that systematically manipulated vocalic duration and F1 offset frequency. Native speakers of English showed the strongest implementation of and sensitivity to vocalic duration, Mandarin speakers showed significantly weaker effects, and Japanese speakers fell in between. Group-related differences in use of F1 offset frequency were smaller, and much clearer in the case of production than perception. It is hypothesized that a lack of experience with final consonants penalizes use of vocalic cues among the Japanese and Mandarin subjects, in general. The advantage of the Japanese subjects for use of vocalic duration further suggests a facilitation effect of experience with phonemic vowel length.
对于以英语为母语的人来说，前面的元音信息可以提示词尾辅音的浊音化。本研究考察了受试者对两种元音线索（元音时长和F1偏移频率）的运用情况，这两种线索是作为两个母语因素的函数，即词尾塞音的经验和音素元音长度的经验。以英语为母语的人被与正在将英语作为第二语言学习的以日语和汉语普通话为母语的人进行比较。实验1测量了“pod”和“pot”发音中的F1偏移频率和元音时长。实验2评估了在有和没有闭塞段及爆破音的情况下对“pod”和“pot”自然音素的识别。实验3评估了对系统操纵元音时长和F1偏移频率的合成“pod”-“pot”刺激的分类。以英语为母语的人对元音时长的运用和敏感度最强，说普通话的人表现出明显较弱的效果，说日语的人则介于两者之间。在F1偏移频率的运用上，组间差异较小，并且在发音方面比在感知方面更明显。据推测，一般来说，缺乏词尾辅音的经验会使日语和汉语普通话受试者在运用元音线索时处于劣势。日语受试者在运用元音时长方面的优势进一步表明了音素元音长度经验的促进作用。
