Native perception of Cantonese tones in high-variability conditions

Abstract

This study investigates how native speakers of Cantonese perceive and produce Cantonese tone pairs T2-T5, T3-T6, T4-T5, T4-T6, and T5-T6 in high-variability conditions. Thirty five native speakers of Cantonese from Hong Kong participated in a 6AFC identification task (screening test), a mixed-talker AXB task (ISI = 1500 ms), and a mixed-talker repetition task (delay = 1500 ms). Results from the screening test showed that the participants did not merge the tones examined in this study. Results from the AXB task showed that (1) perception of tones with f0-height differences (T2-T5 and T3-T6) was more challenging than perception of tones with f0-contour differences (T4-T5, T4-T6, and T5-T6), (2) tones contrasting in direction of f0 change (T4-T5) were the easiest, and (3) perception of level tones (T3-T6) was more difficult than perception of contour tones with an f0-height difference (T2-T5). Data from the repetition task were fitted with quadratic polynomial equations (y = a + bx + cx2) and the analysis revealed that the participants produced the two level tones—T3 and T6—distinctively (in terms of coefficient-a) and the two rising tones—T2 and T5—distinctively (in terms of coefficient-c). This indicates that the participants perceived different level tones and different rising tones in the repetition task (i.e., no tone merger).