The Role Of Onset F₀ In Native French Speakers’ Perception Of Stop Consonant Voicing

The onset F₀after initial aspirated stops in English is higher than that after unaspirated stops.Native English speakers perceive the stops with a higher onset F₀as aspirated stops.The onset F₀after unvoiced stops in French is also higher than that after voiced stops.But it remains to be seen whether native French speakers use onset F₀as a cue in perception.In addition,in terms of second language,previous studies have found that second language learners use onset F₀as a cue when perceiving the stops of second language,and the VOT-onset F₀pattern in second language can be learned.Therefore,the research focuses on whether native French speakers learning Mandarin will use onset F₀as a cue to perceive Mandarin stops,and whether they use VOT-onset F₀pattern in French or Mandarin.In this paper,two recognition experiments were conducted to investigate the perception of French stops by native speakers and Mandarin stops by native speakers who have studied Mandarin.Experimental results show:First,when the VOT is closed to the positive or in the positive range,French speakers can use onset F₀as a secondary cue when perceiving the contrast of voiced and unvoiced stops of French.Second,French speakers learning Chinese only use onset F₀as a secondary cue to aid perception on the category boundary of Mandarin stops,and the duration and frequency of onset F₀need to be the same as that in French.It also shows the same pattern as French speakers used in mother tongue.The results of both experiments provide statistical support for auditory enhancement theory.In both native language and second language,only when the onset F₀,a secondary cue,plays a role in enhancing VOT perception when the primary cue VOT is unclear,will listeners give more weight to it.