How Do Listeners Discriminate Compound Words from Noun Phrases Using Syllable Duration?

• KATAYAMA Tamami

  Prefectural University of Hiroshima

Bibliographic Information

Other Title

• 聞き手はどのように音節の長さを使って複合語と名詞句を弁別するのか

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which native English speakers and Japanese English learners employ the cues of syllable duration to discriminate compound words from nominal phrases. Two compound words (greenhouse and goldfish) were selected as the target words, and the first syllables were lengthened by 20 ms, 40 ms, 60 ms, 80 ms and 100 ms (2 words x 6 steps). Twenty-two native English speakers (ES) and 24 native Japanese speakers (JS) were asked to decide whether or not 12 kinds of sound stimuli constituted a compound word. The results showed that the difference between the groups in their responses to greenhouse and goldfish was significant and that responses to the stimuli as compound words also differed depending on the duration of the first syllables. Although neither groups tended to show an innate or intuitive sense of the absolute value of syllable duration that would enable them to discriminate compound words from nominal phrases, they appeared to take into account the ratio of the duration between the first syllable and the second syllable. The native Japanese speakers appeared to be more sensitive to the given acoustic variables.

Journal

• ARELE: Annual Review of English Language Education in Japan

  ARELE: Annual Review of English Language Education in Japan 26 (0), 1-11, 2015

  The Japan Society of English Language Education

Details

• CRID: 1390282680799867776
• NII Article ID: 110010006577
• DOI: 10.20581/arele.26.0_1
• ISSN: 24320412
• ISSN: 13448560
• Text Lang: en
• Data Source:
  • JaLC
  • CiNii Articles
  • KAKEN
• Abstract License Flag: Disallowed