Behavioral and Electrophysiological Evidence for the Impact of Regional Variation on Phoneme Perception

Autor/inn/en	Brunelliere, Angele; Dufour, Sophie; Nguyen, Noel; Frauenfelder, Ulrich Hans
Titel	Behavioral and Electrophysiological Evidence for the Impact of Regional Variation on Phoneme Perception
Quelle	In: Cognition, 111 (2009) 3, S.390-396 (7 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0010-0277
DOI	10.1016/j.cognition.2009.02.013
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; French; Differences; Regional Characteristics; Phonemes; Auditory Perception; Context Effect; Speech Communication; Tests; Switzerland + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Französisch; Unterscheiden; Regionaler Faktor; Fonem; Auditive Wahrnehmung; Akustische Wahrnehmung; Akustik; Examination; Prüfung; Examen; Schweiz
Abstract	This event-related potential (ERP) study examined the impact of phonological variation resulting from a vowel merger on phoneme perception. The perception of the /e/-/[epsilon]/ contrast which does not exist in Southern French-speaking regions, and which is in the process of merging in Northern French-speaking regions, was compared to the /[slashed o]/-/y/ contrast, which is stable in all French-speaking regions. French-speaking participants from Switzerland for whom the /e/-/[epsilon]/ contrast is preserved, but who are exposed to different regional variants, had to perform a same-different task. They first heard four phonemically identical but acoustically different syllables (e.g., /be/-/be/-/be/-/be/), and then heard the test syllable which was either phonemically identical to (/be/) or phonemically different from (/b[epsilon]/) the preceding context stimuli. The results showed that the unstable /e/-/[epsilon]/ contrast only induced a mismatch negativity (MMN), whereas the /[slashed o]/-/y/ contrast elicited both a MMN and electrophysiological differences on the P200. These findings were in line with the behavioral results in which responses were slower and more error-prone in the /e/-/[epsilon]/ deviant condition than in the /[slashed o]/-/y/ deviant condition. Together these findings suggest that the regional variability in the speech input to which listeners are exposed affects the perception of speech sounds in their own accent. (Contains 3 figures and 1 table.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Elsevier. 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Tel: 877-839-7126; Tel: 407-345-4020; Fax: 407-363-1354; e-mail: usjcs@elsevier.com; Web site: http://www.elsevier.com
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10