讲座题目：Phonology shapes speech perception
讲座学者：Keith Johnson（UC Berkeley语言学系教授）
讲座时间：2015年5月30日星期六 上午10：00开始
讲座地点：北京大学人文学苑6号楼B124
讲座摘要： It is quite well-known that the phonological inventory of one’s native language influences speech perception. Non-native sounds are more difficult to distinguish than are native sounds. This talk explores a couple of different ways that phonology may influence speech perception. [d] and [ð] are non-contrastive in Spanish, and they are contrastive in English. [d] and [ɾ] are non-contrastive in English, and they are contrastive in Spanish. We (Boomershine, Currie-Hall, Hume and Johnson, found that these differing patterns of allophony influence perception - the [d] and [ð] were more similar for Spanish speakers, while [d] and [ɾ] were more similar for English listeners. We (Johnson & Babel) also found this type of result in comparing speakers of Dutch and English. Dutch has both [s] and [ʃ] but unlike English they are in a noncontrastive relation in Dutch phonology. Dutch-speaking listeners rated [s] and [ʃ] as more similar than did English listeners. Ettlinger & Johnson explored the role of feature contrast versus exemplar storage and found that predictions from an exemplar storage model predicts the behavior of Turkish-speaking, French-speaking, and English-speaking listeners in a test of vowel perception. In this study, having a sound in the phonological inventory was more important than having experience with a phonological feature. In the final study of my talk I will present results comparing French-speaking and English-speaking listeners in a study on compensation for coarticulation. French has a contrast between [u] and [y] while English doesn’t. We (Kang, Johnson & Finley) found that French listeners showed compensation for coarticulation for both [u] and [y] while English listeners only compensated for [u]. Taken together these studies suggest that the influence of phonology on perception goes well beyond just what sounds are in one’s phonological inventory but that the influence of phonology is tied quite intimately to the sounds of language more than the features.