Domain-specific processing of Mandarin tone

Abstract

Lexical tone has generally been found to be processed predominantly in the left hemisphere. However, given that tone is carried by a syllable or a word with segmental information and distinctive meaning, the processing of tone may not be easily disentangled from that of the phonetic segments and word meaning [P. Wong, Brain Res. Bull. 59, 83–95 (2002)]. Indeed, previous research has not examined the lateralization of tone independent of segmental and lexical semantic information. The present study explores how syllable‐based tonal processing in Mandarin Chinese interacts with these different linguistic domains. Using dichotic listening, native Mandarin participants were presented with monosyllabic tonal stimuli constructed with the following different linguistic attributes: (1) real Mandarin words with tonal, segmental phonetic, and lexical semantic information; (2) Mandarin nonwords with tonal and segmental, but no semantic information; (3) nonwords with non‐Mandarin segments (i.e., no native segmental or semantic information); and (4) hums of tones (acoustic pitch information) without any segmental or semantic components. Results from these conditions show significant differences in lateralization patterns and are discussed in terms of the integration of acoustic as well as pre‐ and post‐lexical linguistic domains in lexical tone processing. [Work supported by NSERC.]