Interference
Effects of Possible-Word Constraints (PWC) in Cantonese Speech
Segmentation
M. C. W. Yip |
As
reported in Yip (2004), the Possible-Word Constraint (PWC), a mechanism
proposed by Norris, McQueen, Cutler, and Butterfield (1997), could
effectively operate in Cantonese speech segmentation. In this study,
a word-spotting experiment was conducted to further examine how the
mechanism works in segmenting Cantonese speech. In the word-spotting
experiment, listeners were asked to spot out the target Cantonese
word from a series of nonsense sound strings. In general, results
suggested that listeners found it more difficult to spot out the
target Cantonese word [p:k3si:6] from the nonsense sound strings,
which attached or embedded with a single consonant context [p:k3si:6],
than from the nonsense sound strings, which attached or embedded
with either a vowel context [a:1p:k3si:6] or a pseudo-syllable
context [khi:m1p:k3si:6]. Different locations of the context (initial;
intermediate;
final) produced different degrees of interference effects. Together
with my previous findings, the present results further supported
that the PWC appears to be a useful mechanism in segmenting Cantonese
speech. Key words: Cantonese speech, segmentation, Possible-Word Constraint |