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Possible-word constraints in Cantonese speech segmentation.

Michael C Yip1

  • 1School of Arts and Social Sciences, Open University of Hong Kong, 30 Good Shepherd Street, Homantin, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR. myip@ouhk.edu.hk

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research
|April 22, 2004
PubMed
Summary
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The Possible-Word Constraint aids Cantonese speech segmentation by making it harder to identify syllables attached to single consonants. This suggests the constraint is universal in speech segmentation.

Area of Science:

  • Psycholinguistics
  • Speech Perception
  • Phonology

Background:

  • The Possible-Word Constraint (PWC) is a theory explaining how listeners segment continuous speech.
  • Previous research suggests the PWC influences speech segmentation in various languages.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the applicability of the Possible-Word Constraint (PWC) in Cantonese speech segmentation.
  • To determine if syllable attachment affects the ease of syllable identification in Cantonese.

Main Methods:

  • A syllable-spotting experiment was conducted with Cantonese listeners.
  • Participants identified target Cantonese syllables within nonsense sound strings.
  • Stimuli varied in syllable-initial attachments: single consonant, vowel, or pseudo-syllable.

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Main Results:

  • Listeners experienced greater difficulty spotting the target syllable [kDm1] when it was preceded by a single consonant [tkDm1].
  • Syllable identification was easier when the target syllable was preceded by a vowel [a:kDm1] or a pseudo-syllable [khow1kDm1].

Conclusions:

  • The findings support the role of the Possible-Word Constraint in Cantonese speech segmentation.
  • The results indicate that the PWC functions as a language-universal mechanism for continuous speech segmentation.