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Bengali nasal vowels: lexical representation and listener perception
Sandra Kotzor1, Allison Wetterlin2, Adam Charles Roberts3
1Language and Brain Laboratory, Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Phonetica
|May 26, 2022
Summary
This study reveals that listeners recognize Bengali nasal vowels faster when they are unpredictable. This suggests that the brain stores nasalization information efficiently, prioritizing unpredictable phonetic details for quicker perception.
Area of Science:
- Phonetics and Phonology
- Psychoacoustics
- Bengali Linguistics
Background:
- Investigates the representation and perception of phonetic nasalization in Bengali.
- Examines two vowel types: underlying nasal vowels (CṼC) and nasalized vowels before a nasal consonant (CVN).
Purpose of the Study:
- Tests the hypothesis that only unpredictable nasalization is stored.
- Determines how sparse phonetic representations influence the interpretation of vowel nasality.
Main Methods:
- Employed three cross-modal forced-choice experiments.
- Utilized auditory primes (CV segments) and visual full-word targets.
- Measured reaction times and error rates for different nasalization conditions (CṼC, CVN, oral).
Main Results:
- Faster reaction times and fewer errors were observed for CṼC primes compared to CVN and oral primes.
- Surface nasalization was preferentially matched to underlying nasal vowel (CṼC) targets.
- Nasal vowels, being specified for nasality, led to faster recognition than underspecified oral vowels.
Conclusions:
- Listeners' perception of nasalization is influenced by its predictability.
- The human auditory system efficiently stores and utilizes predictable phonetic information.
- Underlying nasal vowels (CṼC) are distinctly represented, facilitating faster recognition.
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