This study examines the identification of Standard Chinese initial consonants by native Danish students of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL). Segmental perception is known to be affected by neighboring segments, and in the case of Chinese, certain consonantal contrasts may be enhanced by the quality of the following vowel. We examined how well intermediate learners of Chinese could apply (implicit) knowledge of L2 phonology in their identification of Chinese coronal obstruents that are known to pose challenges. This paper focuses on two sets of postalveolar sibilants ([tɕ, tɕʰ, ɕ] and [tʂ, tʂʰ, ʂ]) that are often perceived and produced similarly by CFL learners.
Results show a hierarchy of correct identification depending on the following vowel: /i/ > /u/ > /a/. We suggest that learners rely on implicit knowledge of phonotactics when perceiving non-native contrasts.
Original language
English
Title of host publication
Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences, Melbourne, Australia 2019
Editors
Sasha Calhoun, Paola Escudero, Marija Tabain, Paul Warren
Number of pages
4
Place of publication
Canberra
Publisher
Australian Speech Science and Technology Association Inc.
Publication year
2019
Pages
2576-2579
ISBN (Electronic)
978-0-646-800069-1
Publication status
Published - 2019
Event
19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences - Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia Duration: 5 Aug 2019 → 9 Aug 2019 https://www.icphs2019.org/