Copy the page URI to the clipboard
Bárkányi, Z. and G. Kiss, Z.
(2025).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/languages10020029
Abstract
The present paper investigates the link between perception and production in the laryngeal phonology of multilingual speakers, focusing on non-contrastive segments and the dynamic aspect of these processes. Fourteen L1 Hungarian, L2 English, and L3 Spanish advanced learners took part in the experiments. The production experiments examined the aspiration of voiceless stops in word-initial position, regressive voicing assimilation, and pre-sonorant voicing; the latter two processes were analyzed both word-internally and across word boundaries. The perception experiments aimed to find out whether learners notice the phonetic outputs of these processes and regard them as linguistically relevant. Our results showed that perception and production are not aligned. Accurate production is dependent on accurate perception, but accurate perception is not necessarily transferred into production. In laryngeal postlexical processes, the native language seems to play the primary role even for highly competent learners, but markedness might be relevant too. The novel findings of this study are that phonetic category formation seems to be easier than the acquisition of dynamic allophonic alternations and that metaphonological awareness is correlated with perception but not with production.
Plain Language Summary
This study looks at how people who speak multiple languages hear and pronounce certain speech sounds, focusing on sounds that don’t change the meaning of words and how these sounds shift in connected speech. We tested 14 learners whose first language is Hungarian, second language is English, and third language is Spanish.
In the pronunciation tests, we examined how participants pronounced certain consonants at the beginning of words and within words, and how they change when spoken across word boundaries. In the listening tests, we checked whether participants noticed these sound changes and whether they considered them as important features of the language.
The results showed that hearing and pronouncing sounds don’t always match up. When it comes to pronunciation changes that happen naturally in connected speech, the speakers’ first language plays the biggest role, even for highly skilled learners.
A key finding of the study is that people find it easier to learn new sounds that shifts in pronunciation that happen naturally in connected speech.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
