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CHAPTER 6 Conclusion
The current study has demonstrated that traditional Cohort model cannot be fully
supported because words can still be correctly recognized when word initial
information is disruptive. In general, the overall match between the input and the
lexical representation plays an important role. However, the Merge model, which
proposes that the overall match between the input and the lexical representation is the
most important, also cannot provide a thorough explanation on spoken word
recognition in Taiwan Mandarin since tonal information is not included in the model.
If tonal information is taken into consideration, Merge can account for the spoken
word recognition in Taiwan Mandarin. The results of experiment 1 also display that
Merge is a better model than TRACE because the strong top-down feedback of
TRACE can override the perception of the hiccup noise.
In addition, the current study also showed that the first vowel of the disyllabic
word is the most crucial and the second vowel of the disyllabic word is the second
influential in spoken word recognition in Taiwan Mandarin since the vowel carries the
most important information needed for spoken word recognition in Taiwan Mandarin,
including tones. The vowels also occupy the longest period of time in the disyllabic
words. Thus, if the vowel is disruptive, the rate of correctly recognizing the spoken
words will be lower than the rate of successfully recognizing the spoken words whose
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consonants are disturbed. The results of experiment 2 also demonstrate that the onsets
and offsets are almost the same important in Mandarin. Although the vowel in the first
syllable is more influential than that in the second syllable, the coda nasal or
postnuclear glide usually occupy longer period of time than the initial consonant and
carry more information than the initial consonant, including tone. Therefore, the
onsets and offsets are almost the same crucial in mandarin.
Furthermore, the results of this study show that the vowel is the most influential
segment for the perception of Mandarin tones. Although the whole rime carries tonal
information in Mandarin, the vowel occupies the longest period of time compared
with the postnuclear glide and coda nasal. Therefore, if the vowel is replaced by the
hiccup noise, it will be the most devastating to the perception of Mandarin tones.
Last but not least, frequency effect appears in experiment 1, 2, and 3, which
means that it takes shorter reaction time for high frequency words to be recognized. In
the three experiments, it also displays that low frequency words have higher chances
to be incorrectly recognized than high frequency words when the words are partially
disruptive. Hence, frequency effect is an important factor in spoken word recognition
in Taiwan Mandarin.
So for the study has shown some general findings from the experiments, I hope I
can recruit more participants for all three experiments to support or revise the results
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in the future study. In addition, the issues concerning the processing of Mandarin
tones will also be more subtly dealt with. Moreover, the question about which tone is
the most frequent one to interact with the other tones will be further examine in the
future study. Last but not least, the issue regarding Mandarin tone in the Merge model
will be investigated more thoroughly in the further study.
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High frequency words for experiment 1and 3
(from Academia Sinica Balanced Corpus of Modern Chinese)
Word IPA Frequency Percent Cumulation
Low frequency words for experiment 1and 3
(from Academia Sinica Balanced Corpus of Modern Chinese)
Word IPA Frequency Percent Cumulation
1 竊賊
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12 選情
ɕɥɛn21 tȹɕiŋ35
17 0.000 90.772
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High frequency words for experiment 2 and 3
(from Academia Sinica Balanced Corpus of Modern Chinese)
Word IPA Frequency Percent Cumulation
1 中心 t oŋ55 in55 3011 0.062 39.057
Low frequency words for experiment 2 and 3
(from Academia Sinica Balanced Corpus of Modern Chinese)
Word IPA Frequency Percent Cumulation
1 台胞
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10 膽囊 tan21 n ŋ35 14 0.000 91.738
11 禪心
tȹ an35 in55 14 0.000 91.740
12 性感 iŋ51 kan21 2 0.000 98.161