Doctoral Dissertation Research: Features and Syllables in Phonotactic Models

摘要本研究旨在探讨尼泊尔语的音节结构和音位序限制对语音感知的影响。尼泊尔语中不允许词头和词尾的辅音团。因此，当从其他语言借用单词时，尼泊尔语使用者经常通过插入元音来打破集群。例如，他们把英语单词“slip”读成“silip”。早先的研究发现，说尼泊尔语的人很难区分单词边界的辅音集群和由元音分割的相同集群。换句话说，“slip”和“silip”对说尼泊尔语的人来说往往是难以区分的。这表明，这些语言特定的语音策略限制导致尼泊尔语听众在单词边界处感知到不存在的元音。本研究探讨了类似的现象是否可以在世界内部观察到。一项知觉实验将进行，以测试假设，单语尼泊尔人也发现很难区分内部的辅音集群词和由元音分开的相同集群。如果实验结果支持这一假设，那么这种感知混淆将表明，单词内部音节边界上的辅音集群，就像单词边界上的辅音集群一样，会影响尼泊尔语使用者的语音感知。由于尼泊尔语是一种未被充分研究的语言，本研究有望揭示音节结构和语音顺序限制对语音感知的作用。此外，这项研究可以通过识别音节结构的独特作用来为语音学习模型提供信息。拟议研究的更广泛影响包括向贫困的尼泊尔高中生介绍语言和心理科学。

The purpose of this research is to investigate how syllable structure and phonotactic sequencing constraints affect speech perception in Nepali. Word initial and word final consonant clusters are not allowed in Nepali. As a result, when borrowing words from other languages, Nepali speakers often break up clusters by inserting vowels. For example, they pronounce the English word 'slip' as 'silip'. Earlier research has found that Nepali speakers find it difficult to distinguish between consonant clusters at word boundaries and the same clusters broken up by vowels. In other words, 'slip' and 'silip' tend to be indistinguishable to Nepali speakers. This suggests that these language-specific phonotactic constraints cause Nepali listeners to perceive nonexistent vowels at word boundaries.This research investigates whether similar phenomenon can be observed word internally. A perceptual experiment will be conducted to test the hypothesis that monolingual Nepali speakers also find it difficult to distinguish between consonant clusters word internally and the same clusters broken up by vowels. If the results of the experiment support this hypothesis, then such perceptual confusion would indicate that consonant clusters at word-internal syllable boundaries, like the ones at word boundaries, affect the speech perception of Nepali speakers.Since Nepali is an understudied language, this research promises to shed new light on the role of syllable structure and phonotactic sequencing constraints on speech perception. Additionally, this research can inform phonotactic learning models by identifying a distinct role for syllable structure. Broader impacts of the proposed research include introducing underprivileged Nepali high school students to linguistic and psychological sciences.