When does native language input affect phonetic perception? The precocious case of lexical tone

0749-596X/$ see front matter 2012 Elsevier Inc http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2012.09.004 ⁎ Corresponding author. Present address: Laborat Perception (CNRS UMR 8158), Université Paris Des Cité, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, 75006 Paris, France. F 22. E-mail addresses: henny.yeung@parisdescart [email protected] (K.H. Chen), [email protected] 1 Present address: School of Audiology and Speech British Columbia, 2177 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, B Previous studies have suggested that the perception of vowels and consonants changes from language-universal to language-specific between 6 and 12 months of age. This report suggests that language-specific perception emerges even earlier for lexical tones. Experiment 1 tested English-learners’ perception of Cantonese tones, replicating declines in tone discrimination from 4 to 9 months of age. Experiment 2 tested infants learning non-native versus native tone systems (Mandarin-learners versus Cantonese-learners). All Chineselearners discriminated the tones, but showed language-specific differences in tone preferences at both ages. Indeed, English-, Mandarin-, and Cantonese-learning 4-month-olds all exhibited distinct preferences. With other work, this shows that language-specific speech perception emerges over a more complex and extended schedule than previously thought: first for lexical stress and tone (<5 months), then vowels (6–8 months), consonants (8.5– 12 months), and finally phoneme duration (18 months). Acoustic salience likely plays an important role in determining the timing of phonetic development. 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.