Categorical tone identification in speech and NonSpeech sounds for Chinese- and English-native listeners

The goal of this study was to examine how language background affects tonal identification in speech and non-speech signals for Mandarin-Chinese and American-English native speakers. The fundamental frequency (F0) contour was systematically manipulated from tone 4 (falling), to tone 1 (level), and to tone 2 (rising) for three types of signals: Chinese vowel, English vowels, and non-speech (tonal glide). An ABCX identification paradigm was used to measure tonal identification. The two groups of listeners showed categorical perception in the identification of tone 1, 2 and 4. While Chinese-native speakers showed sharper slopes for the onset F0 continuum, but shallower slopes for the offset F0 continuum than English-native speakers, the tone boundary across tone categories was different between the two groups of listeners.