THE EFFECTS OF NATIVE LANGUAGE EXPERIENCE ON THE PHONOLOGICAL PERCEPTION OF COMPLEX LABIAL-VELAR STOPS

This study investigates the effects of native language experience and phonetic properties on the discrimination of labial-velar versus labial and velar contrasts, as well as voicing contrasts in labials, velars, and labial-velars. Research indicates that phonological perceptions are influenced by native language experience and the spe- cific features of sounds, raising the question of how listeners perceive a non-native phonological category that combines two L1 categories, such as labial-velar stops predominantly found in West African languages. Properties of labial-velars raise two main issues: (i) in the place of articulation, labial-velars are characterized by a nearly synchronous combination of labial and velar gestures, potentially being mapped into either category or perceived as distinct; (ii) in the voicing segment, labial-velar voicing distinctions may either resemble voicing in English labials and velars or constitute distinct voicing categories. Added to this perceptual complexity is the notion that heritage language experience confers a phonological advantage over non-native listeners, suggesting a potential perceptual advantage for heritage Yoruba speakers over non-native Yoruba listeners. For this dissertation, 20 native Yoruba, 20 heritage Yoruba, and 20 native English speakers without prior exposure to labial-velars, completed an oddity task. Participants listened to three VCV nonce words embedded in a carrier phrase and identified the odd item or chose whether they were the same. The intervocalic target contrasts were [gb]-[g] and [gb]-[b], [kp]-[k] and [kp]-[p] for place of articulation, and [p]-[b], [k]-[g], and [kp]-[gb] for voicing. Results indicate that (i) the labial feature in labial-velars is more salient than the velar gesture, even in intervocalic positions where cues from both gestures are available; (ii) the discrimination of voicing in labial-velars is more challenging than in labials and velars, particularly for non-native listeners; (iii) contrary to prevailing assumptions in heritage language research, the heritage advantage in phonological perception is not universal but rather contrast-dependent; and (iv) heritage experience may sometimes create a disadvantage in phonological perception.

Grantor dc:publisher

[Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Ajibade, Matthew Ayobami

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Obeng, Samuel Gyasi

• Heritage phonological perception
• Heritage Yoruba speakers
• Labial-velars
• Labial-velar perception
• Phonological perception
• Yoruba

Statement dc:rights

• CC-BY-NC-SA: This work is under a CC-BY-NC-SA license. You are free to copy and redistribute the material in any format as well as remix, transform, and build upon the material as long as you give appropriate credit to the original creator, provide a link to the license, and indicate any changes made. You may not use this work for commercial purpose and must distribute any contributions under an identical license.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2022/33498

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.iu.edu:2022/33498