Phonological Length of L2 Czech Speakers' Vowels in Ambiguous Contexts as Perceived by L1 Listeners

摘要

The paper focuses on the vowel length of non-native speakers' Czech and their perception by native speakers. Due to its phonological status, the length of vowels in Czech is an important sound feature. Its improper realization can result in communication breakdown. From the Czech read speech of 8 Russian and Ukrainian female speakers, a perception test was created: 78 items consisting of 5 pairs and 1 triad of the same sentences that differed only in the target word. These two-syllable words were distinguished by a combination of short/long vowels, e.g., /lanu/ - /la:nu/, /la:nu/ - /la:nu:/. The L1 Czech listeners rated the degree of the foreign accent of the items and intelligibility of the target words. The agreement of listeners with the speakers' intent is evaluated, and the types of substitutions are analyzed in particular with respect to the combination of short/long vowel and the position of a stressed/unstressed syllable. The vowel duration and the formants of i-vowels were measured. In the second perception experiment, durations of both vowels in /lanu/ were manipulated in the range from 60 ms to 240 ms and native Czech speakers rated their perceived length.