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. 2023 Jan;94(1):28-43.
doi: 10.1111/cdev.13837. Epub 2022 Aug 3.

Development of categorical speech perception in Mandarin-speaking children and adolescents

Yan Feng  1   2 , Gang Peng  2   3
Affiliations

Development of categorical speech perception in Mandarin-speaking children and adolescents

Yan Feng et al. Child Dev. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Although children develop categorical speech perception at a very young age, the maturation process remains unclear. A cross-sectional study in Mandarin-speaking 4-, 6-, and 10-year-old children, 14-year-old adolescents, and adults (n = 104, 56 males, all Asians from mainland China) was conducted to investigate the development of categorical perception of four Mandarin phonemic contrasts: lexical tone contrast Tone 1-2, vowel contrast /u/-/i/, consonant aspiration contrast /p/-/ph /, and consonant formant transition contrast /p/-/t/. The results indicated that different types of phonemic contrasts, and even the identification and discrimination of the same phonemic contrast, matured asynchronously. The observation that tone and vowel perception are achieved earlier than consonant perception supports the phonological saliency hypothesis.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Schematic diagrams of (a) F0 contours in the tone continuum, (b) formants in the vowel continuum, (c) voice onset time in the aspiration continuum, and (d) consonant formant transitions in the transition continuum.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
(a) Identification curves, (b) discrimination curves, (c) discrimination accuracy and peakedness of vowels in the children and young adults. Error bars = ±1 SD.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
(a) Identification curves, (b) discrimination curves, (c) discrimination accuracy and peakedness of tones in children, adolescents, and young adults. Error bars = ±1 SD.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
(a) Identification curves, (b) discrimination curves, (c) discrimination accuracy and peakedness of consonant aspiration in children, adolescents, and young adults. Error bars = ±1 SD.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
(a) Identification curves, (b) discrimination curves, (c) discrimination accuracy, and peakedness of consonant formant transitions in children, adolescents, and young adults. Error bars = ±1 SD.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Maturation of identification and discrimination for different types of Mandarin phonemic contrasts. A “+” means that the ability has already become mature.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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