Cross-Linguistic Perception of Intonation by Mandarin and Cantonese Listeners

The question intonation patterns of Mandarin and Cantonese are distinctive. While Mandarin relies on the global F0 contour, Cantonese depends on a boundary tone. A cross-linguistic perception test was conducted with Mandarin and Cantonese listeners to investigate their use of pitch in identifying intonation patterns in familiar and unfamiliar languages. Forced identification tasks were used. The perception results confirmed previously established intonation patterns of the two languages. The results also revealed the universal features of pitch that listeners use to differentiate intonation types. However, language specific and tone specific factors also play a part in the perception process. Therefore, perception of intonation is an interaction of the universal biological process and language-tone specific process.