Cue Weighting in Perception of the Retroflex and Non-Retroflex Laterals in the Zibo Dialect of Chinese

This study investigated cue weighting in the perception of the retroflex and non-retroflex lateral contrast in the monosyllabic words /ɭə/ and /lə/ in the Zibo dialect of Chinese. A binary forced-choice identification task was carried out among 32 natives, using computer-modified natural speech situated in a two-dimensional acoustic space. The results showed that both acoustic cues had a significant main effect on lateral identification, with F1 of the following schwa being the primary cue and the consonant-tos-vowel (C/V) duration ratio as a secondary cue. No interaction effect was found between these two acoustic cues. Moreover, the results indicated that acoustic cues were not equally weighted in production and perception of the syllables /ɭə/ and /lə/ in the Zibo dialect. Future studies are suggested involving other acoustic cues (e.g., the F1 of laterals) or adding noise in the identification task to better understand listeners’ listening strategies in their perception of the two laterals in the Zibo dialect.