The auditory analysis of Japanese rhythm units and the physiological factors affecting their production

本研究有两个目的。(1)本研究旨在探讨日语母语者与日语学习者在节奏时间点上的差异。以及它们在气压和气流的峰值方面有何不同。(2)实验一选取了6个日语单词，考察了日语母语者和学习者所讲单词的气压峰值和气流峰值的差异，其中学习者在持续时间方面具有独特的特点。被试包括母语为日语、汉语和西班牙语的人，他们被要求随着节拍器的声音重复这些单词十次。实验2采用KAY Elemetrics Co.的Aerophone记录单词，结果表明气压对节奏时间点的形成有某种影响/作用。实验2假设日语单词具有由节奏单位组成的特定时间组织。基于这一假设，选取了18个不同节奏类型的词，即，121、212和122节奏类型分别有6个词。使用与实验1相同的装置记录这些单词，以测量每个单词的口腔气压和气流的峰值。被试为3名日语母语者、2名汉语学习者和1名西班牙语日语学习者，结果表明，汉语学习者的气压峰值出现在每个词的第三个单位，这与其他被试有很大的不同。然而，在现阶段，我们无法得出任何明确的结论，表明这些差异。在空气压力和气流可能是产生学习者语音的特征时间实现的主要因素之一。

This research has two objectives.(1) To determine what the differences are, between native speakers of Japanese and learners of Japanese, in their rhythmic timing points. And how they differ in terms of the peak values in the air pressure and the airflow.(2) To determine the differences in the peak values of the air pressure and the airflow of words spoken by native speakers and the learners, where the latter have an unique characteristics in terms of duration.In Experiment 1,6 Japanese words were selected to investigate the relationship between the rhythmic timing points and the peak values in the air pressure and the airflow. The informants, consisting of native speakers of Japanese, Chinese and Spanish, were asked to repeat the words ten times to the sound of the metronome. The words were recorded using the Aerophone of KAY Elemetrics Co. The results have suggested that the air pressure has some kind of influence/role over forming of rhythmic timing points.In Experiment 2, we have hypothesized that Japanese words have specific temporal organization consisting of rhythm units. Based on this hypothesis, 18 words with different rhythm types were selected, i.e., 6 words for the 121, 212, and 122 rhythm types respectively. These words were recorded using the same apparatus as in the Experiment 1 to measure the peak values of the oral air pressure and the airflow of each word. The informants were 3 native speakers of Japanese, 2 Chinese learners, and 1 Spanish learner of Japanese.The results have shown that the peak value of the air pressure fall on the third unit of each word for the Chinese learners, which is quite different from other informants. At this stage, however, we could not arrive at any definite conclusions suggesting that the differences. in the air pressure and the airflow could have been one of the main factors yielding the characteristic temporal realizations of learners speech.