Tone-consonant co-occurrence probability in Mandarin
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2020/11/0017/000432Keywords:
phonotactic probability, wordlikeness, consonant-tone interaction, pseudowords, MandarinAbstract
This study investigates how statistical regularity concerning the distribution of lexical tones and consonantal onsets in Mandarin, formulated as the “tone-consonant cooccurrence probability (TCCP)” here, influences results of wordlikeness judgment task. Native speakers were asked to rate the wordlikeness of monosyllabic real words and pseudowords with existing segmental combinations. Overall, real words with high probability were considered more wordlike than those with low probability. On the other hand, the probability effect was not significant on the well-formedness ratings of the pseudowords. These findings suggest that speakers are sensitive to the toneconsonant co-occurrence patterns, which follow gradual tendencies rather than an “allor-nothing” manner, but such sensitivity is probably limited to existing forms and cannot be extended to hypothetical ones.
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