Titel
The Influence of Different Prosodic Cues on Word Segmentation
Autor*in
Abstract
A prerequisite for spoken language learning is segmenting continuous speech into words. Amongst many possible cues to identify word boundaries, listeners can use both transitional probabilities between syllables and various prosodic cues. However, the relative importance of these cues remains unclear, and previous experiments have not directly compared the effects of contrasting multiple prosodic cues. We used artificial language learning experiments, where native German speaking participants extracted meaningless trisyllabic “words” from a continuous speech stream, to evaluate these factors. We compared a baseline condition (statistical cues only) to five test conditions, in which word-final syllables were either (a) followed by a pause, (b) lengthened, (c) shortened, (d) changed to a lower pitch, or (e) changed to a higher pitch. To evaluate robustness and generality we used three tasks varying in difficulty. Overall, pauses and final lengthening were perceived as converging with the statistical cues and facilitated speech segmentation, with pauses helping most. Final-syllable shortening hindered baseline speech segmentation, indicating that when cues conflict, prosodic cues can override statistical cues. Surprisingly, pitch cues had little effect, suggesting that duration may be more relevant for speech segmentation than pitch in our study context. We discuss our findings with regard to the contribution to speech segmentation of language-universal boundary cues vs. language-specific stress patterns.
Stichwort
language learningspeech segmentationprosodystatistical cuesword stresspauses
Objekt-Typ
Sprache
Englisch [eng]
Persistent identifier
Erschienen in
Titel
Frontiers in Psychology
Band
12
ISSN
1664-1078
Erscheinungsdatum
2021
Publication
Frontiers Media SA
Projekt
Kod / Identifikator
W1262-B29
Fördergeber
Erscheinungsdatum
2021
Zugänglichkeit
Rechte
Rechteangabe
© 2021 Matzinger, Ritt and Fitch
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