Absolute pitch, speech, and tone language: Some experiments and a proposed framework
Absolute pitch, speech, and tone language: Some experiments and a proposed framework
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DOI：
10.1525/mp.2004.21.3.339
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发表时间：
2004-03-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Henthorn, T
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Deutsch, D;Henthorn, T
绝对音高通常被认为反映了一种罕见的音乐天赋;然而，它的特征令人困惑，其起源也不清楚。我们描述了两个实验中，母语的声调语言-普通话和越南语-被发现显示一个非常精确和稳定的形式的绝对音高在发音的话。我们进一步描述了第三个实验中，讲英语的人在类似的任务上表现出较低的稳定性。基于这些发现，并考虑到相关文献的关键时期在语音发展，和词汇声调的神经基础，我们提出了一个框架的发生绝对音高。该框架假设，绝对音高最初演变为语音的一个功能，类似于其他功能，如元音质量，和语音习得的关键时期，自然获得这个功能的声调语言的扬声器。我们进一步提出，收购的绝对音高罕见的个人谁说的语调语言可能与一个关键时期的持续时间异常长，使它包括年龄的孩子可以上音乐课。我们的结论是，获得绝对音高的潜力是普遍存在的出生时，它可以实现，使婴儿在语音习得的关键时期与口头标签音高。
Absolute pitch is generally considered to reflect a rare musical endowment; however, its characteristics are puzzling and its genesis is unclear. We describe two experiments in which native speakers of tone languages-Mandarin and Vietnamese-were found to display a remarkably precise and stable form of absolute pitch in enunciating words. We further describe a third experiment in which speakers of English displayed less stability on an analogous task. Based on these findings, and considering the related literatures on critical periods in speech development, and the neurological underpinnings of lexical tone, we propose a framework for the genesis of absolute pitch. The framework assumes that absolute pitch originally evolved as a feature of speech, analogous to other features such as vowel quality, and that speakers of tone language naturally acquire this feature during the critical period for speech acquisition. We further propose that the acquisition of absolute pitch by rare individuals who speak an intonation language may be associated with a critical period of unusually long duration, so that it encompasses the age at which the child can take music lessons. We conclude that the potential to acquire absolute pitch is universally present at birth, and that it can be realized by enabling the infant to associate pitches with verbal labels during the critical period for speech acquisition.