Development of categorical speech perception in Mandarin-speaking children and adolescents

Yan Feng; Gang Peng

doi:10.1111/cdev.13837

Development of categorical speech perception in Mandarin-speaking children and adolescents

Yan Feng, Gang Peng

Research output: Journal article publication › Journal article › Academic research › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Although children develop categorical speech perception at a very young age, the maturation process remains unclear. A cross-sectional study in Mandarin-speaking 4-, 6-, and 10-year-old children, 14-year-old adolescents, and adults (n = 104, 56 males, all Asians from mainland China) was conducted to investigate the development of categorical perception of four Mandarin phonemic contrasts: lexical tone contrast Tone 1-2, vowel contrast /u/−/i/, consonant aspiration contrast /p/−/p^h/, and consonant formant transition contrast /p/−/t/. The results indicated that different types of phonemic contrasts, and even the identification and discrimination of the same phonemic contrast, matured asynchronously. The observation that tone and vowel perception are achieved earlier than consonant perception supports the phonological saliency hypothesis.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	28-43
Number of pages	16
Journal	Child Development
Volume	94
Issue number	1
Early online date	3 Aug 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13837
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2023

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
Education
Developmental and Educational Psychology

More information

10.1111/cdev.13837

http://hdl.handle.net/10397/101420

Cite this

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Development of categorical speech perception in Mandarin-speaking children and adolescents

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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