Li Aliang
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
École Pratique des Hautes Études-PSL, Paris, France.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2025 Jul 8;68(7):3133-3154. doi: 10.1044/2025_JSLHR-24-00810. Epub 2025 Jul 1.
The study aimed to determine the relative difficulty of Mandarin tone production in a classroom setting for native Hani-speaking children and to explore whether these bilingual children's tone production follows the same patterns observed in Mandarin monolingual children.
This study investigates Mandarin tone production in Hani-Mandarin bilinguals ( = 30) compared to Mandarin monolinguals ( = 20) using Growth Curve Modeling to analyze differences in pitch height and pitch contour between second language (L2) and first language (L1) Mandarin children.
Hani-Mandarin bilinguals produce Mandarin tones with distinct acoustic patterns compared to monolinguals: Hani-Mandarin bilingual children's Tone (T)1 and T4 differ from Mandarin monolingual children in pitch height, while T2 and T3 differ from Mandarin children in pitch contour. Hani-Mandarin bilinguals occasionally pronounce T3 as T2 or vice versa, displaying a bidirectional confusion between T2 and T3.
L1 experience significantly influences L2 tone production. Bilingual children with a tonal L1 produce tones with higher static pitch targets similar to monolingual children, regardless of the differences between the L1 and L2 tonal systems. Complex pitch contours and laryngeal muscle activation patterns in L2 tones may hinder tone acquisition for both bilingual and even native-speaking children.
本研究旨在确定在课堂环境中，以哈尼语为母语的儿童学习汉语声调的相对难度，并探讨这些双语儿童的声调发音是否遵循与单语汉语儿童相同的模式。
本研究调查了哈尼语 - 汉语双语儿童（ = 30）和单语汉语儿童（ = 20）的汉语声调发音情况，使用生长曲线模型分析第二语言（L2）和第一语言（L1）为汉语的儿童在音高和音高轮廓上的差异。
与单语儿童相比，哈尼语 - 汉语双语儿童发出的汉语声调具有明显不同的声学模式：哈尼语 - 汉语双语儿童的第一声（T）和第四声在音高上与单语汉语儿童不同，而第二声和第三声在音高轮廓上与单语汉语儿童不同。哈尼语 - 汉语双语儿童偶尔会将第三声发成第二声，反之亦然，表现出第二声和第三声之间的双向混淆。
第一语言经验对第二语言声调发音有显著影响。无论第一语言和第二语言声调系统之间存在何种差异，具有声调第一语言的双语儿童发出的声调与单语儿童相似，具有较高的静态音高目标。第二语言声调中复杂的音高轮廓和喉部肌肉激活模式可能会阻碍双语儿童甚至母语儿童的声调习得。
