Dùzi bǎole or tùzǐ pǎole? The perception of Mandarin word-initial stops by Poles [Dùzi bǎole czy tùzǐ pǎole? Postrzeganie nagłosowych spółgłosek zwartych w mandaryńskiej chińszczyźnie przez Polaków]
Dùzi bǎole or tùzǐ pǎole? The perception of Mandarin word-initial stops by Poles [Dùzi bǎole czy tùzǐ pǎole? Postrzeganie nagłosowych spółgłosek zwartych w mandaryńskiej chińszczyźnie przez Polaków]

Author(s): Katarzyna Knoll
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: Voice Onset Time (VOT); perception; Mandarin stops; voicing contrasts
Summary/Abstract: This paper concentrates on the perception of voicing contrasts in Mandarin Chinese stops by Polish speakers: advanced adult learners of Mandarin, and adults and children who have no knowledge of this Asian language. The results indicate that short-lag stops (0–20 ms VOT) pose a difficulty for Poles, and that the perception of voicing contrasts is both age- and experience-dependent. Advanced learners consistently divide stops into lenis (/p t k/) and fortis (/ph th kh/), and identification of the place of articulation of a given stop is relatively easy for them. Adults who do not know Mandarin, on the other hand, do not have such a strong categorisation effect, their voicing judgments are more ambiguous, and making distinction between labials, denti-alveolars and velars appears to be more difficult for them. Recognition of stops is also difficult for the youngest Poles, who tend to identify lenis /p t k/ and fortis /ph th kh/ as belonging to the same, fortis, category.

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