| Enhanced discriminability at the phonetic boundaries for the place feature in macaques. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 6221040 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Discrimination of speech-sound pairs drawn from a computer-generated continuum in which syllables varied along the place of articulation phonetic feature (/b,d,g/) was tested with macaques. The acoustic feature that was varied along the two-formant 15-step continuum was the starting frequency of the second-formant transition. Discrimination of stimulus pairs separated by two steps was tested along the entire continuum in a same-different task. Results demonstrated that peaks in the discrimination functions occur for macaques at the "phonetic boundaries" which separate the /b-d/ and /d-g/ categories for human listeners. The data support two conclusions. First, although current theoretical accounts of place perception by human adults suggest that isolated second-formant transitions are "secondary" cues, learned by association with primary cues, the animal data are more compatible with the notion that second-formant transitions are sufficient to allow the appropriate partitioning of a place continuum in the absence of associative pairing with other more complex cues. Second, we discuss two potential roles played by audition in the evolution of the acoustics of language. One is that audition provided a set of "natural psychophysical boundaries," based on rather simple acoustic properties, which guided the selection of the phonetic repertoire but did not solely determine it; the other is that audition provided a set of rules for the formation of "natural classes" of sound and that phonetic units met those criteria. The data provided in this experiment provide support for the former. Experiments that could more clearly differentiate the two hypotheses are described. |
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Authors:
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P K Kuhl; D M Padden |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. |
Journal Detail:
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Title: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Volume: 73 ISSN: 0001-4966 ISO Abbreviation: J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Publication Date: 1983 Mar |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 1983-06-10 Completed Date: 1983-06-10 Revised Date: 2007-11-14 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 7503051 Medline TA: J Acoust Soc Am Country: UNITED STATES |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 1003-10 Citation Subset: IM |
Export Citation:
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APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Adult Animals Communication Aids for Disabled Female Humans Macaca Male Phonetics* Speech Perception* |
| Grant Support | |
ID/Acronym/Agency:
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71-2420//PHS HHS; RR 00166/RR/NCRR NIH HHS |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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