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What Makes Lexical Tone Special: A Reverse Accessing Model for Tonal Speech Perception
Xiang Gao1, Ting-Ting Yan1, Ding-Lan Tang1
1State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
Frontiers in Psychology
|January 11, 2020
Summary
Lexical tone access is slower than segmental information in speech perception. A new Reverse Accessing Model (RAM) explains this tone disadvantage by proposing reverse information processing for tonal speech.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Speech Perception
- Phonetics
Background:
- Previous research indicates lexical tone is accessed later than segmental information in speech.
- The underlying mechanisms of this lexical tone disadvantage remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the lexical tone disadvantage in speech perception.
- To propose and validate a new model for tonal speech processing.
Main Methods:
- Employed a speeded discrimination paradigm without contextual cues.
- Collected evidence for the lexical tone disadvantage and syllable-level advantages.
Main Results:
- Confirmed a lexical tone disadvantage compared to segmental information.
- Demonstrated an advantage for word and atonal syllable judgments over phoneme and lexical tone judgments.
- Validated the predictions of the Reverse Accessing Model (RAM).
Conclusions:
- The Reverse Accessing Model (RAM) offers a unified framework for tonal speech perception.
- RAM explains empirical observations and generates testable predictions for future research.
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