IMPLICATIONAL RELATION AND PERCEPTUAL DISTINCTION: A CASE STUDY ON PLACE CONTRASTS OF FRICATIVES VS. AFFRICATES

摘要

A typological survey across Chinese dialects reveals that,in the [i]context,the place contrasts of dental vs. palatal affricates（ i. e.,[■] and [■]） imply the place contrast of fricatives（ i. e.,[■]）. Assuming a connection between the implicational relation of phonological contrasts and perceptual distinction,this study examines the relative perceptual distinction of the sound pairs [■][■] and [■] through a speeded-AX discrimination experiment. The results showed that the discrimination accuracy of the[■]and [■] pairs is significantly lower than that of the [■] pair,indicating that the former two pairs are perceptually less distinct than the latter pair. The results lend support to the contention that a sound pair in the unmarked category tends to be perceptually more distinct than its counterpart in a marked category.