The effect of cognitive load on tonal coarticulation

Cognitive load (CL) has been found to influence language perception in many interesting ways, but its role in production has not been explored. In this paper, we look at how CL influences production of tonal coarticulation in Mandarin Chinese. Since coarticulation has been found to involve cognitive planning, this is an especially appropriate domain for investigating the influence of CL. Results indicate that the overall effect of CL on coarticulation was weak, but that anticipatory coarticulation of the dissimilatory variety increased somewhat under CL preceding a tone with a low f0 onset. These results suggest that anticipatory raising, or ‘upstep’, may involve a separate cognitive mechanism which is not common to all types of tonal coarticulation.