99 下演講/ invited by Sherry Ou

Time: April-27 (Wed.) 14:00-15:30

Venue: TBA
Taiwan Min tone space
台灣閩南語聲調空間

Ho-hsien Pan (潘荷仙教授)

Graduate Institute of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics
National Chiao Tung University
交通大學外國語文學系暨外國文學與語言學研究所

Speech perception is affected by the auditory system, phonological inventory, and

allophonic rules.  Using non-speech hummed tones and Taiwan Min lexical tones, the
effect of auditory properties on tone perception was explored.  Comparing perceptual
tone spaces of Swedish, Taiwan Mandarin, and Taiwan Min listeners, the effect of
phonological inventories and allophonic tone sandhi variations was investigated.  The
response times and answers from AX discrimination tests on Taiwan Min lexical
tones, with seven sandhi rules that form a chain relationship, were analyzed using
multidimensional scaling analysis.  Results showed that perceptual tonal distinctions
were the clearest for Min listeners and the most confusing for Swedish listeners.  The
highest error rate on speech stimuli and the lowest error rates on non-speech hummed
tones for Swedish listeners reflected the influence of auditory properties on tone
perception.  Swedish listeners perceived non-speech hummed tones and speech
juncture tones in patterns resembling Min sandhi chain.  Both Mandarin and Min
listeners’ tonal distribution patterns resembled Min sandhi chains, Taiwan Mandarin
listeners perceived as different the juncture and sandhi tones of the same surface pitch
contours, whereas Taiwan Min listeners perceived them to be similar.  The Taiwan
Min sandhi chain is psychologically real in the minds of Min listeners.