The Selectivity of Musical Advantage

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 423-434
Author(s):  
William Choi
Keyword(s):  
Recall Task ◽  
Language Transfer ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
High Level ◽  
Perceptual Acuity ◽  
Missing Element ◽  
Level Tone ◽  
Discriminatory Performance

The OPERA hypothesis theorizes how musical experience heightens perceptual acuity to lexical tones. One missing element in the hypothesis is whether musical advantage is general to all or specific to some lexical tones. To further extend the hypothesis, this study investigated whether English musicians consistently outperformed English nonmusicians in perceiving a variety of Cantonese tones. In an AXB discrimination task, the musicians exhibited superior discriminatory performance over the nonmusicians only in the high level, high rising, and mid-level tone contexts. Similarly, in a Cantonese tone sequence recall task, the musicians significantly outperformed the nonmusicians only in the contour tone context but not in the level tone context. Collectively, the results reflect the selectivity of musical advantage—musical experience is only advantageous to the perception of some but not all Cantonese tones, and elements of selectivity can be introduced to the OPERA hypothesis. Methodologically, the findings highlight the need to include a wide variety of lexical tone contrasts when studying music-to-language transfer.

The perception of Mandarin lexical tones by native Korean speakers differing in their experience with Mandarin

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimiko Tsukada ◽  
Jeong-Im Han
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Frequency ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Discrimination Test ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Perceptual Salience ◽  
Level Tone

While it is well established that non-native speakers differ from native speakers in their perception and/or production of Mandarin lexical tones, empirical studies focusing on non-native learners are still limited. The objective of this study is to add to the current understanding of lexical tone perception by comparing native speakers of standard Korean from the Seoul/Kyunggi area differing in Mandarin experience (NK1, NK2) with native speakers of Mandarin. NK1 ( n = 10) had no experience with Mandarin whereas NK2 ( n = 10) consisted of highly advanced learners of Mandarin. A group of 10 native Mandarin (NM) speakers was included as controls. Accuracy of perception of six tone pairs (T1–T2, T1–T3, T1–T4, T2–T3, T2–T4, T3–T4) was assessed in a four-alternative forced-choice discrimination test. As expected, the NK2 group with extensive Mandarin learning experience resembled the NM group to a greater extent than did the NK1 group. T2–T3 was the hardest pair for both NK groups, but NK2 had the largest advantage over NK1 for this pair. Apart from T2–T3 which is generally considered difficult, tone pairs involving T1 caused some misperception by the NK groups. This may be related to the difficulty with perceiving a level tone which shows the least fundamental frequency (F0) movement and possibly has limited perceptual salience.

WHY ARE LEXICAL TONES DIFFICULT TO LEARN?

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricky KW Chan ◽  
Janny HC Leung
Keyword(s):  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Tone Discrimination ◽  
Level Tone

AbstractL2 sounds present different kinds of challenges to learners at the phonetic, phonological, and lexical levels, but previous studies on L2 tone learning mostly focused on the phonetic and lexical levels. The present study employs an innovative technique to examine the role of prior tonal experience and musical training on forming novel abstract syllable-level tone categories. Eighty Cantonese and English musicians and nonmusicians completed two tasks: (a) AX tone discrimination and (b) incidental learning of artificial tone-segment connections (e.g., words beginning with an aspirated stop always carry a rising tone) with synthesized stimuli modeled on Thai. Although the four participant groups distinguished the target tones similarly well, Cantonese speakers showed abstract and implicit knowledge of the target tone-segment mappings after training but English speakers did not, regardless of their musical experience. This suggests that tone language experience, but not musical experience, is crucial for forming novel abstract syllable-level tone categories.

On the Relationship Between General Auditory Sensitivity and Speech Perception: An Examination of Pitch and Lexical Tone Perception in 4- to 6-Year-Old Children

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 487-498
Author(s):  
Puisan Wong ◽  
Man Wai Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Speech Perception ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Auditory Sensitivity ◽  
Pitch Discrimination ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Perceptual Training ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Tone Perception ◽  
Tone Discrimination

Purpose Theoretical models and substantial research have proposed that general auditory sensitivity is a developmental foundation for speech perception and language acquisition. Nonetheless, controversies exist about the effectiveness of general auditory training in improving speech and language skills. This research investigated the relationships among general auditory sensitivity, phonemic speech perception, and word-level speech perception via the examination of pitch and lexical tone perception in children. Method Forty-eight typically developing 4- to 6-year-old Cantonese-speaking children were tested on the discrimination of the pitch patterns of lexical tones in synthetic stimuli, discrimination of naturally produced lexical tones, and identification of lexical tone in familiar words. Results The findings revealed that accurate lexical tone discrimination and identification did not necessarily entail the accurate discrimination of nonlinguistic stimuli that followed the pitch levels and pitch shapes of lexical tones. Although pitch discrimination and tone discrimination abilities were strongly correlated, accuracy in pitch discrimination was lower than that in tone discrimination, and nonspeech pitch discrimination ability did not precede linguistic tone discrimination in the developmental trajectory. Conclusions Contradicting the theoretical models, the findings of this study suggest that general auditory sensitivity and speech perception may not be causally or hierarchically related. The finding that accuracy in pitch discrimination is lower than that in tone discrimination suggests that comparable nonlinguistic auditory perceptual ability may not be necessary for accurate speech perception and language learning. The results cast doubt on the use of nonlinguistic auditory perceptual training to improve children's speech, language, and literacy abilities.

scholarly journals Lexical and Prosodic Pitch Modifications in Cantonese Infant-directed Speech

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Luchang WANG ◽  
Marina KALASHNIKOVA ◽  
René KAGER ◽  
Regine LAI ◽  
Patrick C.M. WONG
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Phonetic Learning ◽  
Tonal Space ◽  
Shed Light ◽  
Talker Variation ◽  
Phonemic Contrasts

Abstract The functions of acoustic-phonetic modifications in infant-directed speech (IDS) remain a question: do they specifically serve to facilitate language learning via enhanced phonemic contrasts (the hyperarticulation hypothesis) or primarily to improve communication via prosodic exaggeration (the prosodic hypothesis)? The study of lexical tones provides a unique opportunity to shed light on this, as lexical tones are phonemically contrastive, yet their primary cue, pitch, is also a prosodic cue. This study investigated Cantonese IDS and found increased intra-talker variation of lexical tones, which more likely posed a challenge to rather than facilitated phonetic learning. Although tonal space was expanded which could facilitate phonetic learning, its expansion was a function of overall intonational modifications. Similar findings were observed in speech to pets who should not benefit from larger phonemic distinction. We conclude that lexical-tone adjustments in IDS mainly serve to broadly enhance communication rather than specifically increase phonemic contrast for learners.

scholarly journals The practice of experimental investigations of lexical tones in Baltic subdialects: some of the new insights in methodology

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Evaldas Švageris
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Investigation ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Main Idea ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Mathematical Functions ◽  
Combined Analysis ◽  
Lexical Tones ◽  
Acoustic Correlates ◽  
The Baltic

This article provides an alternative way of experimental investigation of lexical tones in the Baltics. The main idea holds on a presupposition that the phonetic basis of prosodic elements in question can be explained in a more appropriate way in terms of a combined analysis of acoustic correlates, rather than a selective one. The lexical tone in this case may be interpreted as a factor which determines the type of acoustic correlation. Ideally, the interdependence of that sort could be defined by mathematical functions. The analysis of the empirical basis provides clear evidence in the favour of such methodological approach. Phonetic data from both, the Latvian (Valmiera) and the Lithuanian (North Žemaitian) subdialects confirmed clearly that the highest level of the tone distinction can be reached by a combined analysis of the pitch slope, pitch jerk and the duration of the long accented vowels. These results have arguably improved the interpretation of the phonetic tone structure and shed a new light on the typological links between the Baltic dialects. Finally, it presupposes that the phonetic nature of prosodic elements in some degree depends on a methodological way we choose for the investigational purposes. 

scholarly journals Cochlear compound action potentials from high-level tone bursts originate from wide cochlear regions that are offset toward the most sensitive cochlear region

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 1018-1033 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Lee ◽  
J. J. Guinan ◽  
M. A. Rutherford ◽  
W. A. Kaf ◽  
K. M. Kennedy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Frequency ◽  
Action Potentials ◽  
Tuning Curve ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Sound Level ◽  
Frequency Tone ◽  
Compound Action Potentials ◽  
High Level ◽  
Level Tone ◽  
Compound Action

Little is known about the spatial origins of auditory nerve (AN) compound action potentials (CAPs) evoked by moderate to intense sounds. We studied the spatial origins of AN CAPs evoked by 2- to 16-kHz tone bursts at several sound levels by slowly injecting kainic acid solution into the cochlear apex of anesthetized guinea pigs. As the solution flowed from apex to base, it sequentially reduced CAP responses from low- to high-frequency cochlear regions. The times at which CAPs were reduced, combined with the cochlear location traversed by the solution at that time, showed the cochlear origin of the removed CAP component. For low-level tone bursts, the CAP origin along the cochlea was centered at the characteristic frequency (CF). As sound level increased, the CAP center shifted basally for low-frequency tone bursts but apically for high-frequency tone bursts. The apical shift was surprising because it is opposite the shift expected from AN tuning curve and basilar membrane motion asymmetries. For almost all high-level tone bursts, CAP spatial origins extended over 2 octaves along the cochlea. Surprisingly, CAPs evoked by high-level low-frequency (including 2 kHz) tone bursts showed little CAP contribution from CF regions ≤ 2 kHz. Our results can be mostly explained by spectral splatter from the tone-burst rise times, excitation in AN tuning-curve “tails,” and asynchronous AN responses to high-level energy ≤ 2 kHz. This is the first time CAP origins have been identified by a spatially specific technique. Our results show the need for revising the interpretation of the cochlear origins of high-level CAPs-ABR wave 1. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Cochlear compound action potentials (CAPs) and auditory brain stem responses (ABRs) are routinely used in laboratories and clinics. They are typically interpreted as arising from the cochlear region tuned to the stimulus frequency. However, as sound level is increased, the cochlear origins of CAPs from tone bursts of all frequencies become very wide and their centers shift toward the most sensitive cochlear region. The standard interpretation of CAPs and ABRs from moderate to intense stimuli needs revision.

Tunes and Tones: Music, Language, and Inhibitory Control

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 104-123
Author(s):  
Robert E. Graham ◽  
Usha Lakshmanan
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Pitch Contour ◽  
Musical Experience ◽  
Lexical Tone ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Cognitive Benefits ◽  
Pitch Contours ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Stroop Tasks

Abstract A debate is underway regarding the perceptual and cognitive benefits of bilingualism and musical experience. This study contributes to the debate by investigating auditory inhibitory control in English-speaking monolingual musicians, non-musicians, tone language bilinguals, and non-tone language bilinguals. We predicted that musicians and tone language bilinguals would demonstrate enhanced processing relative to monolinguals and other bilinguals. Groups of monolinguals (N = 22), monolingual musicians (N = 19), non-tone language bilinguals (N = 20) and tone language bilinguals (N = 18) were compared on auditory Stroop tasks to assess domain-transferable processing benefits (e.g. auditory inhibitory control) resulting from potentially shared underlying cognitive mechanisms (Patel, 2003; Bialystok & DePape, 2009). In one task, participants heard the words “high” and “low” presented in high or low pitches, and responded regarding the pitch of the stimuli as quickly as possible. In another task, participants heard the words “rise” or “fall” presented in rising or falling pitch contours, and responded regarding the contour of the stimuli as quickly as possible. Results suggest transferable auditory inhibitory control benefits for musicians across pitch and contour processing, but any possible enhanced processing for speakers of tone languages may be task-dependent, as lexical tone activation may interfere with pitch contour processing.

4. INTERPRETERS, INTERPRETING, AND THE STUDY OF BILINGUALISM

2003 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 58-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guadalupe Valdés ◽  
Claudia Angelelli
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Language Minority ◽  
Language Transfer ◽  
Minority Populations ◽  
New Directions ◽  
The World ◽  
High Level ◽  
Professional Audience

In this chapter we present a brief overview of the literature on interpreting focused specifically on issues and questions raised by this literature about the nature of bilingualism in general. It is our position that research carried out on interpreting—while primarily produced with a professional audience in mind and concerned with improving the practice of interpreting—provides valuable insights about complex aspects of language contact that have not been thoroughly addressed by the existing literature on bilingualism. Examination of the literature emphasizing a category of bilinguals, who have been referred to as “true” bilinguals (Thiery, 1978a, b), provides perspectives on both individual and societal bilingualism that can complement, and possibly refocus, some current views of the linguistic, psycholinguistic, and sociolinguistic characteristics of language contact. For applied linguists who study language minority populations around the world, the literature on interpreting suggests important new directions for research focusing on areas such as the process of high level development of two languages in diglossic contexts; the effects of instruction on the development of nonsocietal languages; the nature of language transfer; and the characteristics of communication between speakers of societal and nonsocietal languages.

Tone Sandhi Features of Diminutives in Jiashan Dialect

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-136
Author(s):  
Yue Xu
Keyword(s):  
Tone Sandhi ◽  
High Level ◽  
Level Tone

Diminutive forms in Jiashan dialect have a high level tone 55. Although the tone of the diminutives always falls over one or two syllables, it cannot appear alone. It must occur as a sandhi tone when forming fixed diminutive forms in conjunction with other syllables. These diminutives now only express an emphatic or relaxed sense, while the basic and original meanings have been bleached. These qualities make the diminutives difficult to recognize.

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