L2 duration characteristics of Mandarin tones by Japanese learners

Abstract

In order to get a better understanding of the acquisition of Mandarin Chinese prosody by L2 learners, we investigate the temporal aspects of Mandarin tones in running speech for native Chinese speakers and Japanese L2 learners. Significant differences are found between natives and learners when generating tones with varying syllable durations depending on their position in the utterance as well as on specific syntax constraints associated with them. Among the tone types, the shortening of tone 3 pronouns at the beginning of utterances and the lengthening of tone 4 syllables at the end of utterances remain difficult for learners to generate, even at a higher overall proficiency level. Throughout the duration analysis, we could speculate the existence of stress control in Chinese syllable timing.