EXPRESS: Sandhi-based predictability of pitch accent facilitates word recognition in Kansai Japanese speakers

• Published in: Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006) 2024-02, p.17470218241237219
• Main Authors: Ito, Aine, Hirose, Yuki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1747-0226

We investigated the predictability effects of pitch accent on word recognition using the sandhi rule in Kansai Japanese (KJ). Native KJ speakers and native Tokyo Japanese (TJ) speakers (control group) saw four objects while hearing modifier + noun phrases in a speeded image-selection task. The register tone of the noun's initial mora was predictable or unpredictable based on the tone of the modifier's final mora in KJ but not in TJ. Experiment 1 found faster reaction times in the predictable vs. unpredictable condition in KJ speakers but only when the modifier had an all-low tone. This suggests that the modifier ending that changes following the sandhi rule functions as a reliable cue to constrain an upcoming tone, whereas the modifier ending that remains the same does not (although the next tone is predictable). Unexpectedly, we found the same but weaker effect in TJ speakers. Experiment 2 replicated this effect and additionally showed that the facilitation effect was not because TJ speakers were exposed to KJ well enough to become familiar with the KJ sandhi rule. We speculate that the effect in TJ speakers is related to a language-universal constraint against a sequence of low tones without a high tone within a phonological word, which may urge listeners to listen for a high tone in the upcoming input.