Doctoral Dissertation Research: Features and Syllables in Phonotactic Models

本研究的目的是探讨音节结构和音位顺序限制如何影响尼泊尔语的言语知觉。尼泊尔语中不允许出现单词首字母和单词末尾辅音簇。因此，说尼泊尔语的人在从其他语言借用单词时，往往会通过插入元音来打散词簇。例如，他们把英语单词“lip”读成“silip”。早些时候的研究发现，说尼泊尔语的人很难区分单词边界上的辅音簇和被元音分割的相同簇。换言之，对于说尼泊尔语的人来说，“lip”和“silip”往往难以区分。这表明，这些特定语言的音位限制导致尼泊尔听者在单词边界感知到不存在的元音。本研究调查了类似的现象是否可以在单词内部观察到。一项知觉实验将被用来检验这样一种假设，即说单语的尼泊尔语者也发现很难区分内部的辅音词簇和被元音分割的相同词簇。如果实验结果支持这一假设，那么这种知觉混乱将表明单词-内部音节边界上的辅音簇，如单词边界上的辅音簇，影响了尼泊尔语者的语音感知。由于尼泊尔语是一种研究较少的语言，本研究有望为音节结构和音位顺序限制对语音感知的作用提供新的线索。此外，这项研究还可以通过识别音节结构的不同作用来为语音定向学习模型提供信息。拟议研究的更广泛影响包括向贫困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.