Speaker variability and context in the identification of fragmented Mandarin tones by native and non-native listeners

This study investigated the individual and joint contribution of speaker variability, context, and type of acoustic input to the identification of Mandarin tones. Mandarin syllables produced by single vs. multiple speakers were digitally processed to generate intact, silent-center, center-only, and onset-only syllables to be presented in isolation or with a precursor carrier phrase. Forty native listeners and 55 non-native listeners were put under time pressure to identify the tones of the syllables. The results showed higher identification accuracy for single-speaker tones and tones presented in context. Tone identification accuracy also decreased as acoustic input was reduced. The speaker variability effect showed comparable magnitude for the native and non-native listeners. In contrast, non-native tone identification, compared to the native performance, was facilitated less by context and compromised more when acoustic input was minimal. Tone confusion analyses showed a Tone 2–Tone 3 confusion and a bias towards Tone 4 responses for both groups of listeners, but the patterns of confusion and bias are more variable in the non-native responses. The non-native listeners also showed inconsistent evidence of using F0 height for tone identification when acoustic input was minimal.