Cantonese Tone Perception in Punjabi Learners of Cantonese: Implications for the Perceptual Assimilation Model for Suprasegmentals

Abstract

<p>The Perceptual Assimilation Model for Suprasegmentals (PAM-S) theorizes how first language tone system influences the discriminability of non-native tone contrasts. We further tested (i) whether PAM-S applied to second language tone discrimination and (ii) whether its applicability hinged on talker variability. Punjabi learners of Cantonese completed the Cantonese tone assimilation task, in which they assimilated the Cantonese tone contrasts as two category (TC), single category (SC), uncategorized-categorized without overlap (UC-no), and uncategorized-categorized with overlap (UC-o) pairs. This yielded testable predictions for PAM-S. Participants further completed the Cantonese tone discrimination task in three contexts. In the double-talker context, they discriminated the UC-no pair more accurately than the SC and UC-o pairs; and the TC pairs better than most SC and UC-o pairs. However, all tone contrasts were equally discriminable in the single-talker and pure tone contexts. Collectively, PAM-S applies to second language tone discrimination, but its applicability hinges on talker variability.</p>