Assessing the Nasalance of Native Mandarin Speakers in Mandarin and English

ECU Author/Contributor (non-ECU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Eshan Pua (Creator)

Institution

East Carolina University (ECU )

Web Site: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/

Abstract: Objective: To determine whether native Mandarin speakers show a difference in nasalance measurement in their native language compared to English and analyze the effect of predictors on nasalance scores. Design: Participants completed a questionnaire about cultural and linguistic background. All participants recorded three Mandarin sentences and vowels , and three English sentences and vowels , designed to phonetically match Mandarin speech stimuli. Nasalance measurements were taken from the Nasometer II 6450. Participants were randomly selected to repeat recordings for test-retest reliability. Participants and setting: The participants included 45 native Mandarin-speakers (20 males , 25 females) from mainland China between 20 and 54 years of age. All participants were tested in the speech laboratory of East Carolina University. Results: A paired samples t-test revealed a significant difference between mean nasalance scores of English and Mandarin sentences (p < 0.008). Scores for English and Mandarin vowels did not yield significant results. A multiple linear regression model revealed significant gender-based differences (p < 0.05). Age , English language exposure , mean English language preference and dialect did not yield significant results. Conclusions: Native Mandarin speakers yield different nasalance scores in their native language compared to English. This confirms that separate nasalance score norms are needed for the Mandarin language. Gender-based differences should be considered in the collection and analysis of nasalance scores. Reported Nasometer scores can be used for preliminary normative data.

Additional Information

Publication

Thesis

Language: English

Date: 2017

Keywords

Mandarin, Chinese, English, nasalance, nasometer, resonance

Subjects

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