Perceptual biases in consonant perception—Where do we find them? What is behind them?

Abstract

There is no doubt that language experience has an early and profound impact on the perception of phonetic segments. There is now clear evidence that phonetic perception is also shaped by universal perceptual biases that can be exposed as directional asymmetries in phonetic discrimination. Much of this work has focused on vowel perception in which we observe robust perceptual asymmetries in infant and adult L2 perception. To explain these patterns, Polka and Bohn (2003) and (2011) outlined the Natural Referent Vowel (NRV) framework which proposes that vowel perception is shaped by both generic (universal) and language-specific processing. In this talk, I will present data showing perceptual biases in consonant perception which suggest that we can extend NRV principles to consonant perception.There is no doubt that language experience has an early and profound impact on the perception of phonetic segments. There is now clear evidence that phonetic perception is also shaped by universal perceptual biases that can be exposed as directional asymmetries in phonetic discrimination. Much of this work has focused on vowel perception in which we observe robust perceptual asymmetries in infant and adult L2 perception. To explain these patterns, Polka and Bohn (2003) and (2011) outlined the Natural Referent Vowel (NRV) framework which proposes that vowel perception is shaped by both generic (universal) and language-specific processing. In this talk, I will present data showing perceptual biases in consonant perception which suggest that we can extend NRV principles to consonant perception.