Acta Linguistica Asiatica (Jul 2024)
The Effect of Lexical Accent on Perceived Japanese Vowel Length: Evidence from Croatian
Abstract
The present paper examines the effect of Japanese lexical accent on the perception of Japanese vowel length in Croatian listeners. Lexical accent patterns of the two languages, both having phonologically distinctive length and pitch, are contrasted. A three-alternative choice identification test was conducted involving all combinations of three pitch patterns and two positions of a long vowel in bisyllabic words. Two groups of participants were Croatian students of Japanese and those without any prior knowledge. The results showed not only the effects of pitch pattern but also of the position of the long vowel (initial or final) and group. Participants had the highest error rates for pitch pattern LHL, followed by HLL, regardless of the group and position of the long vowel.
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