Abstract
In this study, Limburgian and Dutch 2.5- to 4-year-olds and adults took part in a word learning experiment. Following the procedure employed by Quam and Swingley (2010) and Singh et al. (2014), participants learned two novel word-object mappings. After training, word recognition was tested in correct pronunciation (CP) trials and mispronunciation (MP) trials featuring a pitch change. Since Limburgian is considered a restricted tone language, we expected that the pitch change would hinder word recognition in Limburgian, but not in non-tonal Dutch listeners. Contrary to our expectations, both Limburgian and Dutch children appeared to be sensitive to pitch changes in newly learned words, indicated by a significant decrease in target fixation in MP trials compared to CP trials. Limburgian and Dutch adults showed very strong naming effects in both trial types. The results are discussed against the background of the influence of the native prosodic system.
Highlights
Acquiring the sound structure of a language entails finding out which phonetic contrasts are meaningful in the native language (L1) and storing them as part of a word’s lexical representation
Based on parental report, using an adapted version of the PaBiQ (COST Action IS0804, 2011)6 administered during a telephone interview, the language input provided at home to 22 of the Limburgian children was as follows: (a) both parents speak a different East-Limburgian dialect (N = 9), (b) one parent speaks an East-Limburgian dialect, the other Standard Dutch (N = 8), (c) both parents speak the same East-Limburgian dialect (N = 3), and (d) one parent speaks an East-Limburgian dialect, the other a dialect from another Limburgian dialect region (N = 2)
A three-way mixed ANOVA with Condition (CP vs. MP) and Tone (Accent 1 vs. Accent 2) as within-subjects factors and Language (Limburgian vs. Dutch) as the betweensubjects factor was conducted to evaluate the possible influence of language and pitch change on the naming effect
Summary
Acquiring the sound structure of a language entails finding out which phonetic contrasts are meaningful in the native language (L1) and storing them as part of a word’s lexical representation. Children need to learn to assign appropriate interpretations to many different sorts of phonetic variation, and separate variation that is lexically meaningful (i.e., phonemic variation) from variation that is not (e.g., speaker variation). The aim of the present study is to add to the field of lexical tone acquisition by investigating the role of pitch contrasts during novel word learning. This is examined in child and adult speakers of Limburgian dialects of Dutch.
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