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Japanese listeners' perceptions of phonotactic violations
Laurel Fais1, Sachiyo Kajikawa, Janet Werker
1Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. lfais@psych.ubc.ca
Language and Speech
|January 18, 2006
Summary
Japanese adults understand implicit phonotactic rules, including vowel devoicing. Their judgments on word forms reveal an awareness of both standard structures and exceptions like consonant clusters.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Phonology
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- Japanese phonotactics typically follow a (C)V(C)V- structure.
- High vowel devoicing creates apparent exceptions, forming consonant clusters and final consonants.
- Understanding these exceptions is crucial for modeling native speaker perception.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate Japanese adults' perception of phonotactic violations in Japanese nonsense words.
- To determine if native speakers implicitly understand rules governing vowel devoicing.
- To assess how judgments of word goodness are influenced by canonical forms and devoicing contexts.
Main Methods:
- Participants rated the goodness of nonsense Japanese words on a scale.
- Nonsense words included both canonical forms and forms with vowel devoicing.
- Stimuli were designed to test implicit knowledge of phonotactic constraints.
Main Results:
- Adult Japanese speakers demonstrated sensitivity to phonotactic patterns.
- Judgments indicated an implicit understanding of vowel devoicing rules.
- Perceptions were influenced by both typical word structures and devoicing contexts.
Conclusions:
- Japanese adults possess implicit knowledge of phonotactic constraints, including vowel devoicing.
- Perceptual judgments reflect an internalized grammar that accommodates regular phonological processes.
- This study provides insight into the cognitive mechanisms underlying phonological rule application.
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