Abstract
This study tests for evidence of tonal coarticulation effects, especially anticipatory effects, in production of non-native Chinese contour tones. Eighty second language learners of Chinese and ten native speakers participated in a main experiment and two supplementary experiments in which they produced both real and pseudo disyllabic words. Findings indicate that anticipatory coarticulation is relevant in L2 contour tone production. L2 speakers’ Tone 2 and to some extent Tone 4 tend to be less intelligible to native listeners when followed by tones starting with a high onset (Tone 1 or Tone 4) due to anticipatory coarticulation. Some similar and different tonal coarticulation effects between native Chinese speakers and second language learners of Chinese are also noted in the paper based on the experiment results. This study argues that a ‘universal’ coarticulatory constraint plays a role in shaping second language Chinese tone phonology.
摘要
本文旨在验证声调协同发音对母语为非汉语者的曲折调（二声、四声）发音的影响。其中，逆向协同发音的影响为本文研究重点。 80 名有各自不同母语背景的汉语学习者和 10 名汉语母语者参与了本文中的实验。该实验由一个主要实验和两个补充实验组成，要求两组实验对象就有意义和无意义的双音节词进行发音。实验结果表明，汉语学习者的曲折调的发音状况与逆向协同发音相关。在逆向协同发音的影响下，当二声和四声位于起始音为高音的声调（一声、四声）之前时，汉语学习者的曲折调（尤其是二声）更难被母语者听辩。根据实验结果，本文还指出了协同发音的影响在汉语学习者和汉语母语者发音状况中的相似和不同之处。本文认为一种普遍的协同发音机制约束着汉语二语学习者声调语音体系的形成。
About the author
Hang Zhang is Associate Professor of Chinese Language and Linguistics at George Washington University. Her research focuses on second language phonology. She has published in major journals in the field of second language acquisition, such as Second Language Research, Chinese as a Second Language, and International Journal of Applied Linguistics. Her recent book Second Language Acquisition of Mandarin Chinese Tones: Beyond First-Language Transfer was published by Brill in 2018.
Yirui Xie
Yirui Xie graduated from the MA in Chinese Language and Culture program of George Washington University in 2019. She currently is a Teaching Assistant in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at the George Washington University.
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