Effects of syllable duration on the perception of Mandarin tones: A cross-language study

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Abstract
Mandarin syllables carrying a high-rising F0 contour (tone 2) tend to be produced shorter than those carrying a low-falling-rising contour (tone 3). It is suggested that, even for syllables with the same physical duration, the more complicated F0 structure of tone 3 makes it appear longer than tone 2. Talkers may therefore produce an actual length difference to enhance the apparent length difference. This hypothesis was tested by comparing perceptual judgments by native Mandarin and native English speakers on various series of Mandarin tones. A short-stimulus (350 ms) series and a long-stimulus (450 ms) series were synthesized for each of the syllables /bi/, /ba/, and /bu/. Each series was generated by incrementally interpolating the F0 contour between a tone 2 and a tone 3 exemplar, both of which were Mandarin morphemes or words. Subjects (both Mandarin- and English-speaking) were first trained with feedback to assign the short and long series-endpoint stimuli to two categories based on F0 contour alone. Next, subjects identified the entire stimulus series (both long and short) on the basis of the two training categories. For both Mandarin- and English-speaking subjects, a longer syllable duration shifted the labeling boundary reliably toward fewer tone 2 (i.e., more tone 3) responses. The parallel boundary shifts suggest that length variation enhances the perceptual distinction between tones 2 and 3, probably by reinforcing what is already a difference in apparent length. [Work supported by NINCDS.]

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