The ability to map similar sounding words to different meanings alone is far from enough for successful speech processing. To overcome variability in the speech signal, young learners must also recognize words across surface variations. Previous studies have shown that infants at 14 months are able to use variations in word-internal cues (i.e.,…

Purpose: Although variability of training materials has the potential to benefit the learning of lexical tones, the benefit is contingent on an individual's pitch aptitude. Previous studies did not segregate immediate learning and consolidation after an overnight interval, and little is known about how pitch aptitude differences affect…

This paper investigates the phonology of L2 speech and its impact on intelligibility in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) contexts. Many studies have considered speaker-related characteristics, such as speech styles and pronunciation features, that influence the intelligibility of L2 speech for both nonnative speakers (NNS) and native speakers…

This article reports a study that aimed to find out whether F0 patterns of L2 English produced by Vietnamese speakers are different to those of native English speakers, whether the non-native F0 patterns are transferred from Vietnamese, and to what extent English and Vietnamese F0 profiles differ. Ten native/L1 Australian English speakers, 20…

Suggests that the departing tone in Chinese arose not through the loss of the final "h," but through a glottalized phonation stage that is still observable. Historical sources supporting this theory are presented, and an account of the development of middle Chinese tones into Mandarin is proposed. (SED)

Discusses dialectal variation in the lexical tone system of Ma'ya, an Austronesian language featuring three lexically contrastive tonemes. Representative acoustic data were collected from the Missol, Slawati, and Laganyan dialects, and on the basis of these data, an account is given of their tone systems and of how these tone systems compare to…

Examines the use and function of Chinese discourse particles in informal speech in Singaporean English, comparing the intonation and pitch movement of native varieties of English to Singaporean English. (Author/OD)

A study examining the mechanism of tone changes in the dialects of northern Chinese explored the geographic distribution on tone features manifested in 480 dialects. A set of prototypical tone patterns is proposed to form a basis for dialectal subgrouping and reconstruction of tone development. (Author/CB)