ERIC Number: EJ851481
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Mar
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0090-6905
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Available Date: N/A
Possible-Word Constraints in Cantonese Speech Segmentation
Yip, Michael C. W.
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, v33 n2 p165-173 Mar 2004
A Cantonese syllable-spotting experiment was conducted to examine whether the Possible-Word Constraint (PWC), proposed by Norris, McQueen, Cutler, and Butterfield (1997), can apply in Cantonese speech segmentation. In the experiment, listeners were asked to spot out the target Cantonese syllable from a series of nonsense sound strings. Results suggested that listeners found it more difficult to spot out the target syllable [k D m[superscript 1]] in the nonsense sound strings that attached with a single consonant [tk D m[superscript 1]] than in the nonsense sound strings that attached either with a vowel [a:k D m[superscript 1]] or a pseudo-syllable [khow[superscript 1]k D m[superscript 1]]. Finally, the current set of results further supported that the PWC appears to be a language-universal mechanism in segmenting continuous speech.
Descriptors: Syllables, Oral Language, Phonemes, Sino Tibetan Languages, Phonology, Task Analysis, Language Universals, Auditory Perception, Psycholinguistics
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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